


Nothing to Win (and Nothing Left to Lose)

by TheQuietQuill



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (It's kinda resolved in the end but yeah...), (basically passion over communication is not the best), (it's minor tho), 2018 Winter Olympics, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Barebacking, Consensual Sex, Dubious Consent, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Heterosexual Sex, Ice Dancing, Ice Skating, Multiple Orgasms, Olympics, Pining, Riding, Smut, Underage Kissing, Vaginal Sex, yayyyy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:18:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 25,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQuietQuill/pseuds/TheQuietQuill
Summary: “We look good in gold,” Eleanor comments, smirking knowingly.Louis chuckled, “We always do, babe,” he assured her. Eleanor smiled, so wide it hurt her cheeks and she couldn’t look at him because it just hurt so much.Or: Louis and Eleanor are the world’s best ice dancing duo and Eleanor’s been in love with her partner for decades. Looking to cap off their spectacular career with one final flawless run, they go to the Winter Olympics in 2018 for a last chance to earn gold.Eleanor’s hoping to finally gain more then just another medal.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyy guys. So basically last week I fell in love with the Canadian Ice Dance duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and this fic is a result of that lol! Although some things about their relationship has been brought to this fic (like their 20 year partnership) and some things they've said about each other, I'm NOT saying that I know anything about their relationship and what goes on behind close doors! I just wrote an Elounor fic and came up with everything that happens in the fic myself. So yeah. 
> 
> Italicized portions are flashbacks, but really-this fic has every dated pretty well for you guys. 
> 
> The title of this comes from the song With or Without You by U2, and a version of that song is what Louis and Eleanor dance to for their freestyle. I will try to link it, but the version of the song I like best is on Spotify by Scala and Kalacny Brothers (with strings!) 
> 
> Please read and enjoy!

 

 

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Three—Opening Ceremony

                Eleanor tries her best to remember every second she can about this moment. Opening ceremonies never cease to amaze Eleanor. This is her third one and each time, she forgets the overwhelming feeling of pride and excitement. She’s been a figure skater for over twenty years now, spends thousands of hours a year on ice, perfecting her moves daily-all for this. All for the grand spectacle of going to the winter games, for the chance of getting gold and standing on that podium.

                Bundled up in American colors and the weight of the world watching her, she travels into the arena in Pyeongchang with her shoulders high and her smile on full force. She waves to the adorning crowd, feeling their cheers and the K-Pop music pounding in her bloodstream. In front of her is Niall Horan, two-time world champion short-track speed skater, gold medalist, flag barer for Team USA, and most importantly, her friend.

Beside her, is Louis Tomlinson, her ice dancing partner. Together, they’ve taken over the sport, with countless world championships to their names, and two Olympic championships, with one gold and one silver. Louis insisted they come back out of hiatus for one more chance, one more shot at gold again. Eleanor couldn’t say no to him, not when she saw his eyes glimmering with hope and excitement.

How could she say no to Louis? Such a thing seems so impossible. He’s her other half, the strength to her weaknesses. He knows what she’s thinking with saying any words. Louis has seen Eleanor at her best, and at her absolute worse and Eleanor’s seen Louis through good and bad times as well. They’ve picked each other up, pushed each other to physical limits and beyond. They’ve broken apart and come back together time and time again. All their hard work, all their sweat, blood and tears has brought them here to Pyeongchang, to their final chapter.

Eleanor laughs at her partner as Louis cheers loudly in her ear, his hands gripping her shoulders. His joy is pure and endless, and it should be that way. Louis should always be this way, stupidly happy with not a care in the world. This past few years has been rough on both, but Louis has suffered the most. To see Louis be so low before to here now, his eyes shining and his smile deep on his face, it almost brings tears to Eleanor’s eyes.

Louis smiles at Eleanor and picks up her hand in his. He lifts their joined hands in the air and arena grows wild.

“I still hate these gloves,” Louis mutters through his grin, making Eleanor laugh, “Who the Hell even likes fringe?”

Eleanor waves at the side of the arena, “I quite like them.”

“Says the girl who practically lived in Ugg boots for six years,” Louis painfully reminds her.

“Hey,” she scoffs, “I was eleven and awkward as Hell.”

Louis shakes his head slightly, “That’s a shitty excuse.”

And if it wasn’t for the fact that they’re in front of thousands of people, Eleanor would elbow him in the gut for that.

~~~

Birmingham, Michigan 1997        

_When Eleanor first met Louis, she was a feisty seven-year-old, and Louis was a devil at nine._

_“But I don’t want to be paired up!” Eleanor whined to her coach, Devona. Normally, the young girl was terrified of Devona’s old school and strict manner, but she couldn’t stand down on this. She was determined to be the next Kristi Yamaguchi all on her own. Besides, boys were gross, and she didn’t want to skate with a boy._

_But Coach Devona glared down at the child, her Polish accent thicker as she scolded her, “Eleanor, you must be realistic. You are not good enough to win on your own. Having a boy partner at or above your skill will enhance your skating and increase your chances of medaling.”_

_And just like that, Eleanor was no longer a solo skater._

_“His name is Louis Tomlinson,” Devona informed her, “His family has just to Michigan from Iowa, so he could train with Coach Luca for ice dancing. Luca says that Louis is good, has a strong core and arms. Luca and I agree that putting you together with Louis will be a goof thing.”_

_Louis Tomlinson turned out to be a mischievous boy. They met officially on the ice a few days later, when Louis skated by her and somehow successfully untied the ribbon holding Eleanor’s braid._

_“Hey!” Eleanor yelled at him and gave chase. Louis’ manic laugh echoed in the nearly empty rink as he zigged and zagged across the ice. She mimicked his moves, every figure eights and twizzle he did, so did she. Eleanor caught up to Louis eventually and yanked his downy brown hair._

_“Ah!” Louis yelped, causing both to fall to the ice. He sat up, his piercing blue eyes glared at Eleanor, “You could’ve sprained my ankle, you brat!”_

_Eleanor rolled her eyes and picked up her pink hair ribbon, “Well if you hadn’t stolen my ribbon, none of this would’ve happened!”_

_“They both need discipline,” Luca commented tiredly from the seats, “And lots of it.”_

_Devona shrugged, her eyes on the feuding children on the ice, “Yeah, but did you see how El followed Louis? She was so lasered focused on his moves, and she responded, quick and exact with passion and purpose.”_

_Luca shrugged, “So the kids can both skate, what else is new?_

_“If they can be in-sync when they’re bickering, imagine how well they’ll work together in a pair when they grow to actually like each other, hm?” Devona explained. She smirked as she turned back to the ice. Eleanor was trying to skate away from the boy, but Louis persisted, skating in front of her and making Eleanor change directions several times. The Polish woman stated, “I have a good feeling about these two.”_

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Five

                Eleanor and Louis’ first skating event won’t happen until Day Six of the Olympics, when they skate for the team event as the pair. Before then, they have practices lined up for the next two days, grueling hours of fine tuning both off and on the ice to bring the final aspects to perfecting each element of their routine.

                On day five, everything feels like it’s together.

                “Yes!” Harry, their choreographer, shouts from the stands after they complete another successful throw jump, “Keep that momentum going guys! Feel the emotions and show it!”

                A little over a year ago, when Louis suggested a choral rendition of U2’s ‘With or Without You’ to be their final performance, Eleanor thought he was crazy. Although she loves classic rock, it was risky, doing a slower song that was also an all-girls choral version of the song at the Olympics. But Louis stuck to his guns and insisted on it. Eleanor couldn’t really argue with him, not with all the shit Louis had been through in the last year or so. The song fits so well too with emotions, and Eleanor thought it fit well with their relationship too. The two of them have infuriated each over the years, but neither one of them can see them during this with anyone else. They’re each other’s best friends, and Eleanor cannot imagine not having Louis in her life. Even if it means staying quiet about how much she longs for him to be more than just her partner, then her friend, just so he won’t reject and leave her, Eleanor will do it. Eleanor almost cried the first time she heard this cover of the song, and knew they had to do it. Thankfully Harry was on board to help showcase the proper emotions of longing and heartbreak through choreography.

                _‘My hands are tired, my body bruised, she’s got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose.’_

They naturally go into the next move, a series of twizzles before Eleanor reaches out for Louis, but he distances himself from her, perfectly in time with the music. They do a series of synchronized spines and turns, each motion they hit at the same time together. She follows him, portraying desperation as they eventually connect once more, with her hand on his chest. But then Eleanor moves away at the end of the lyric, with Louis catching her at the last second. He holds her arm as he spins her once, then twice, and then they skate on, their eyes locked and facing each other.

_‘And you give yourself away…With or without you; with or without you—I can’t live, with or without you.’_

Louis leads into a spiral sequence, holding desperately onto Eleanor’s hands as he pushes them into two quick spins. From the stands, Eleanor can hear Harry praise them loudly and it only encourages them. They feel the music, skate together in time as they prepare for another jump. At the end of the lyric is a series of ‘Ahs’ being sung in beautiful harmony with haunting layers. Leading up to that part of the song, Louis hoists Eleanor up and in front of him. She quickly wraps her legs behind, locking herself on Louis’ torso as he glides around half of the rink, and Eleanor has her arms extended as if she were on a cross. She comes down at the end of that part, her head dropping in theatric exhaustion from a toxic relationship. Luckily, Louis’ quick hands are under her breast to catch her. Eleanor unlocks her legs and finds her footing quickly back on the ice.

As the voices die down for the last five words, the two skates reel in the performance. The lyrics ‘With or without you,’ is repeated a few more times Louis and Eleanor look intensely at each other as they do a solid sit-spin for five rotations. They move apart horizontally on the ice, both completing the same motions and turns on their own, perfectly across from each other at the same time. As the song closes in a chorus of ‘Oos’ Louis and Eleanor slowly drift back together at the center, diagonal skating toward each other. Their arms are just out of reach of each other as they dance together, but it comes to a head at the very middle of the rink. They’re not facing the same way, as Louis facing one of the shorter sides of the rink and Eleanor facing the other. Eleanor finally slips her arm around Louis’ and her other hand ends up on the back of his neck as he refuses to look at her. They stick the final pose, finishing the dance with Louis finally looking over to Eleanor and the two embrace each other, with her forehead on his shoulder in exhaustion and Louis caressing the side of her head.  

 “Wonderful!” Harry cheers as Louis and Eleanor skate towards the edge of the rink, both out of breath and sweaty. Harry’s emerald eyes beam as he looks at them and pulls them in for a quick hug, “It had passion and precision. I was in tears guys!”

Louis scoffs, “You always cry while we skate, H.”

Eleanor watches Louis gulp down the rest of his water bottle. She notices the trial of sweat streaming down his cheek and onto his neck. And here’s Eleanor again, fighting the urge to lick it off him. But then again, it’s nothing new.

Harry smirks at her knowingly, and Eleanor still can’t believe for two years now, Harry’s still teasing her about her love for Louis. She still can’t believe she’s been in love with Louis for so long and hasn’t acted on it at all. All of her pasts selves are probably furious at her.

“Keep your back leg straighter whenever you do double spins,” their coach, Nadine, instructs them as she comes into the group. Eleanor takes her comment as a huge relief, as that is what Nadine says whenever their routine is perfect and has no flaws to comment on. Nadine has been their coach for almost a decade and always seems to know when to push her starts and when to let up on them.

“Your short program is just superb as well,” Nadine says, “You two really brought the energy and style to the music. I don’t see how you guys can’t earn top marks.”

“I still feel like you need to work on your diagonal steps in the middle of the routine,” Louis tells Eleanor flatly as he combs back his fringe. He’s nibbling his lip, his eyebrows drawn up deeply on his forehead. He’s stressed, Eleanor can clearly tell this, and when Louis gets stressed he lashes out. He nit picks over all the small details and is never fully relaxed about anything.

So, Eleanor caters to him for now, “I’m sorry, I’ll work on it-”

“You should have this shit perfected by now, El!” he bites back, face fuming, “For God sake, El! These are diagonal steps! We learned that shit when we were five, El! How the fuck are we gonna win gold if you can’t even do diagonal steps?”

Oh yeah, and when Louis gets stressed he turns into a real ass.

But Eleanor’s used to it, and is weirdly even admired by his passion, sometimes that is.

“Lou,” Harry says calmly, and Eleanor knows that motherly scolding tone, “Go take a break.”

“We don’t have time for a fucking break-”

Eleanor interjects, “We do, Louis. Go get some fresh air and cool down.”

Louis stares at her for a few seconds before chucking his water bottle on the ground. Jesus, he’s in one of his moods. He puts the cap on his skates quickly and grabs his duffle bag off the bench. Eleanor watches as her partner storms out of the room like a child in need of a nap.

“Your diagonal steps are fine, dear,” Nadine comforts Eleanor the best she can.

Eleanor sighs, “I know they are. Louis’ just stressed.”

“The Olympics do that to a person,” Harry comments lowly, and he would know.

He was set to win gold for Team Canada as a solo male skater but during his final skate performance, he fell hard and threw a disk out of his back. He needed a medal rod put in to stabilize his spine, and that effectively ended his career. But thankfully, Harry agreed to jump on board as the choreographer for Louis and Eleanor for their competitions. He’s been a great addition to their team, but sometimes creative differences put a riff between Harry and Louis especially. Still, even Louis would admit that Harry has made them better ice dancers in these few years.

“He just needs a minute,” Eleanor insists.

Nadine nods, “Right, and when that minute is up, you go and talk some sense into him.”

Eleanor does just that, after giving Louis a solid ten minutes on his own. She wonders down a long hallway of the arena, and finds a back door cracked open. Louis’ laying down in front of it, and Eleanor can smell his cigarette before she can see him blowing the smoke outside. It’s stupidly cold, and Louis must be feeling it, but he isn’t shivering like Eleanor is when she sits across from him.

“It’s fucking freezing,” Eleanor comments, her arms hugging herself under her Team USA hoodie. Louis scoffs around his cigarette, still refusing to look at her for some reason. Eleanor sighs and looks outside, “The wind’s terrible out there. Liam said there’s talk that they’re probably gonna postpone ski events if it keeps up like this.”

Louis pulls out the cigarette and says, “I bet Liam’s all pouty about that.” He finally glances over to her and smirks.

“Nadine will kill you for smoking during the Olympics,” Eleanor tells him for the millionth time! He grins cleverly at her around the cigarette, almost seductively.

“That’s why you won’t tell her, yeah?” he prompts, as if he doesn’t know the answer already.

Eleanor rolls her eyes, “I never do.”

They’re silent for a bit, Eleanor rests her head against the heavy door and tucks her knees under her chin. Louis smokes in silence, until he chucks the bud out into the snow. He pulls his legs back in, making the door close with a thud and spins his body to face Eleanor. His feet are protruding her space, stretched out just next to her own feet. His skates are still on with the covers over the blades.

“I shouldn’t have talked to you like that,” Louis says quietly a moment later, “I’m so sorry.”

Eleanor shrugs, her eyes intensely locked on him, “It’s fine-”

“It’s not, though,” Louis states. He huffs, “I was a dick back there.”

“Yes you were,” Eleanor agrees lightly, smirking as she nudges her foot against his, “But-Lou, that wasn’t you. I can tell because you feel like shit about it.”

Louis nods, hesitantly looking up at his partner, “I do feel like shit,” he confesses, “I’m sorry El. You deserve better then that, better then me.”

“Stop that,” Eleanor scolds him, “You-I’m so fucking lucky to have you out there on that ice with me Lou. I can’t imagine anyone else being my partner. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. No one else could ever replace you, because there’s no one else better for me then you, Louis.”

She means it, more then just professionally. But Louis doesn’t need to know that she’s stupidly in love with Louis and has been since they were just kids.

Louis looks her over carefully before chuckling once, “Who knew you were such a sap, Els.” Eleanor cracks a smile.

“Says the guy who agreed to have one of our final routines be to a cover of a classic rock song” she muses, and Louis rolls his eyes, hard. But then he smiles are her, his mouth closed and his lips forming almost a V-shape. He does that sometimes, this cute little bunny smile that just melts Eleanor’s heart. She wonders sometimes if Louis can tell, if all this time he can read her like a book knows just what to do to make her love him even more somehow.

“Consider it my parting gift,” Louis says, his voice heavy.

Eleanor’s stomach sinks, but she ignores it, “You can’t get rid of me that easily Lou.”

“God, don’t I know it!” Louis exaggerates, “My sisters would never stop asking about you, and they’d kill me if we ever stopped out weekly dinners.”

“I don’t think I could live too long without Flizz’s chocolate chip cookies,” Eleanor says truthfully.

Louis glances down, his face morphed quickly back to being stone, “I just want us to win Els.”

“I know you do, Lou.”

Eleanor sees Louis shake his head quickly, “I can’t-” he looks up at Eleanor, and reaches for her hand, “I don’t ever want to disappoint you, El. I-If I fail you, if I fail all of our hard work I would never live with myself.”

“Stop talking like that,” Eleanor says evenly over her thudding heart. She reaches over and takes Louis’ hand in hers, “You could never, ever disappoint me, Lou.” She squeezes his hand for good measure, hoping Louis truly believes her.

Louis looks at their joined hands and murmurs, “I already disappointed you, Els-so fucking much.” Eleanor tenses up and lets go of Louis’ hand, as if it electrocuted her.

Well shit.

She didn’t expect Louis to bring that up, like ever really. But she never, ever thought he’d bring it up during the fucking Olympics of all times.

“We need to get back to practice,” Eleanor says eventually. They both get up awkwardly at the same time, and Louis reaches for her hand.

“El,” he whispers, and he’s pleading with her.

Eleanor manages to smile at him, a genuine one at that, “C’mon, we got gold medals to win.”

Thankfully, Louis cracks a smile, one that’s a little awkward but Eleanor will take it.

~~~

Birmingham, Michigan 2003

_Eleanor could never exactly pinpoint when she began to fall in love with Louis._

_It always just felt like a little bit of her was always in love with Louis. Even when they were annoying little kids and Louis would pull pranks on her all the time, Eleanor couldn’t stop her heart from yearning for him. That little bit that loved him only grew over time and those feelings came to a head when Eleanor was thirteen._

_“You’re late,” Louis hissed at her as Eleanor glided onto the ice for practice. Nationals were coming up and they were rehearsing double time._

_Eleanor had no energy to fight him, “Sorry,” she sniffled, “W-We need to practice that rotation lift in our short dance-”_

_“Hey,” Louis came up to her, his hand brushing her forearm. Eleanor tried to look away, but Louis cupped her face, “Have you been crying?”_

_“Just ignore it,” Eleanor tried, “Let’s just work on our routines.”_

_But Louis wasn’t having it._

_“What’s wrong?” he asked._

_Eleanor sighed, hating that new tears were forming. Her lips wobbled as her watery gaze looked at Louis’ chest. A sob fell from her lips and Louis pulled her into his chest. This was wasting time, so much precious time that they didn’t have. But Louis stroked her hair, held onto Eleanor tighter as her body shook while she cried._

_“I’m s-sorry,” Eleanor apologized weakly a few minutes later. She realized then how close they were, that Louis was still tenderly holding her in his arms, and she back away quickly. She skated around the rink, focused on making herself stop crying and trying to make herself breathe._

_Louis watched from center rink and gave Eleanor the time she needed to calm down. But Eleanor knew he wouldn’t drop it. There was no way in Hell Louis would just watch Eleanor cry without knowing what was hurting her. Eventually, Eleanor made herself go to center ice, still refusing to look at Louis and the tear stain on his shirt._

_Finally, Louis spoke up, “What the Hell is going on, El?”_

_“Jake dumped me last night,” Eleanor said hollowly. She felt silly. Here she was, a Junior World Ice Dancing Champion, crying over a boy. But she couldn’t help it. Jake was her first boyfriend and she loved him. Well, maybe not love exactly, but she liked Jake a lot and had been dating him for two months. She thought things were getting serious, but apparently, they weren’t._

_Louis sighed, “Shit, El. I’m sorry.”_

_“Not your fault,” Eleanor sniffled as she adjusted her high pony tail. She rolled her eyes, “He said it was because I was too focused on skating and never made any time for him.”_

_At that Louis scoffed, “Well he’s a dick.”_

_“Lou,” Eleanor chided him, but smirked at the comment._

_“It’s true!” Louis said with a grin, “I mean, any girl your age can have a boyfriend, but why have a boyfriend when you can be world champions?”_

_Eleanor would have to agree. Louis was fifteen and had never been in a serious relationship. Oh, there were many opportunities for him to have a girlfriend. He was good looking and charming and wickedly talented. And Louis would sometimes come to practice on Mondays and brag about making out with girls are various parties. He would text these girls here and there for a while before dropping all communication with them when the season began._

_Eleanor, on the other hand, was trying desperately to be a normal thirteen-year-old girl AND an ice dance champion. But it was harder then she expected._

_“He also said some mean stuff,” Eleanor confessed._

_Immediately, Louis’ demeanor changed. His happy-go-lucky-self morphed quickly into anger._

_“What’d he say?” he demanded to know._

_Eleanor scoffed, “That I was too skinny.”_

_“What?!” Louis billowed, “The fuck-why would be say that?”_

_“I dunno,” Eleanor shrugged, “I kept telling him that I eat, like all the time. It’s just we’re in the middle of the season and I’m training for several hours a day. Jake didn’t get it though.”_

_“Well fuck him, then!”_

_Eleanor gasped, “Louis!”_

_“It’s true!” Louis retorted, “I mean, you’re supposed to like someone regardless of their size. And you’re healthy, El, you’re toned and like-”_

_Eleanor frowned as Louis bit his tongue._

_“What?” she pushed. Louis shrugged a little, suddenly bashful._

_“I mean, like-you have a great figure El,” he confessed. And, well, Eleanor wasn’t expecting that._

_“Oh,” she breathed out, just as Louis added quickly._

_“I’m not blind and I’m sure any guy would see that,” he chuckled tightly, “But yeah, El. You look, really good El.”_

_Eleanor blushed madly, “Thank you, Lou.” The boy bit his lip._

_“Did this dick-wad say anything else?” Louis asked, and Eleanor blushed._

_“Well, um.”_

_Louis again pushed her, “Just tell me, El and I’ll knock all his teeth out.”_

_Eleanor closed her eyes, took a deep breath and confessed, “J-Jake said that I was a shitty kisser.”_

_“Um,” Louis responded awkwardly, “I-I’m sure that’s not true.”_

_“I mean,” Eleanor shrugged, hating that they were having this conversation, “I kinda, like-I dunno. We made out a few times, but it just never felt…right, I guess.”_

_Louis scoffed, “Jesus, El. How do you fuck up kissing?”_

_“I know how to kiss!” Eleanor insisted, and then added quietly, “It’s just, I was always told that it was magical when you kissed another person, or it should feel that way. But it just…was weird instead. Like kissing a frog.”_

_“More like an ass,” Louis muttered, and Eleanor doesn’t bother to correct him._

_Eleanor smirked tightly, “So yeah, I guess Jake felt that way too about our kisses. But he’s putting all the blame on me and I dunno, it just hurt.”_

_“Well…” Louis said, “I’m sure he’s wrong, El.”_

_“But what if he isn’t wrong?” Eleanor asked, her voice risen, “What if I suck at kissing and I go the rest of my life not knowing how to kiss properly? What if Jake’s out there right now telling everyone I can’t kiss for shit and I’ll never get another boyfriend?”_

_Louis stared at Eleanor, his eyes darting down to her lips, “I mean, I um, could kiss you?”_

_“Fuck off, Lou,” Eleanor huffed, but her heart was pounding at the thought of Louis kissing her._

_“I’m serious,” the boy insisted, “I mean, like we don’t have to. But I’m your partner, Els. We’re always brutally honest with each other. I would tell you if you’re shit at kissing.”_

_Eleanor frowned at him. This was a line they never crossed before, even though Eleanor thought about for sure. Louis was her best friend and partner, and he was also hot and always had his hands on her body. How could she not have a little crush on him? But she just never thought Louis saw her that way. He was always so professional towards her, but this-THIS was totally different._

_“Besides, a kiss doesn’t mean much anyway, right?” Louis reasoned tightly, “Just a quick little peck and then you’ll know for sure if you can kiss or not.”_

_Eleanor gulped, feeling flushed, “I-Okay, yeah. I mean, only if you want to.”_

_“Jesus Els,” Louis muttered fondly, “You make it sound like kissing you is like going to the dentist.” Eleanor grinned over her nerves._

_“I think Jake would rather get all his teeth pulled out before kissing me,” Eleanor mumbled._

_Louis shook his head, “None of that. C’mon, pucker up Els.”_

_Eleanor licked her lip as Louis pulled her closer to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and oddly, it felt like they were about to do some sort of routine. Louis looked over her face, his blue eyes serious and dark. He held her cheek in his cold hand, and Eleanor let out s short breath, her eyes held into his. They wait a second, and then two and three, before Louis dipped down and kissed her._

_It was better, so-so much better then any kiss Eleanor had before. That magic that she was promised by the movies and her girlfriends finally happened. It was magical, and Eleanor suspected it was mainly because she was kissing Louis. She fluttered her eyes closed and jutted her lips out ever so, wanting Louis to deepen the kiss. He did, by hold her face with both hands and moving his stiff lips just slightly. God, it was better then anything Eleanor could have imagined. She whimpered slightly, and that was it._

_Louis backed off, looking stunned and out of breath as if they just finished practice. Eleanor wanted more, wanted nothing more then to kiss him once again, but she was scared to do anything. She just waited, shell shocked for Louis to speak or do something. Eleanor watched as Louis skated backwards two steps, and then did a small, wide circle turn. She couldn’t read his face, normally she knew what Louis was think but Eleanor had no fucking clue about any of this anymore._

_“Well?” she prompted. Louis stopped skating and finally looked up at her, “Oh, God. Was I that bad?!”_

_Louis, thankfully, cracked a grin, “Hell no, Els. This Jake kid is lying off his ass. You were-it was good, El. Like, really good even.”_

_“Really?” Eleanor asked, surprised. Louis looked down at her lips just briefly before looking her back in the eye._

_“Y-Yeah,” he confirmed. Louis shook his head, “Alright, enough talk of that piece of shit. Nationals are in two weeks.”_

_Eleanor sorta hoped that her and Louis would begin a relationship after that. It was silly to think that way, especially because it was during the season and they were partners. There was no way they could date each other._

_But two weeks at Nationals, after they did a tango routine that earned them top marks, Louis pulled in Eleanor for a hug like normal as the crowd cheered for them. And right there, on the ice in front of everyone, Louis kissed her cheek sweetly._

_The gesture caught Eleanor by surprise, but it was still magical._

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Six 

“We’re live in 3…2…1!” the camera woman yells from behind the very large and intimidating cameras.

                Eleanor gulps thickly before putting on her best smile. Louis looks over and smiles at her reassuringly, and it eases her mind a bit. Of course, they’re decked out in Team USA merchandise, right down to matching USA bracelets. But the puffy winter coats they have on are stifling under the hot stage lights.

                “Hello America!” the interviewer, Today host Rebecca Stone calls out to the camera, “We are in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Today is Day Three of the Olympics and the on the agenda today is the Team Skating event.”

                “That’s right, Rebecca, and good morning,” co-host Andrew Gibbs spoke up, “Now the Team Skating event is devised by four categories of competitive skating. There’s women’s skate, men’s skate, pair skating and ice dance. Top competitors from each category will compete their own individual routines and will be rated as individuals. The scores of all four categories will be added up, and the country with the highest score will get Olympic gold.”

                “Here with us today are Louis Tomlinson and Eleanor Calder, who are representing Team USA for ice dancing and will be competing in the group event later today. Tomlinson and Calder are three-time World Champions in ice dance and are gold and silver medalists for the event. They came out of retirement after the Sochi Olympics in 2014, for a shot at winning gold again for their solo routines,” Rebecca finally turns to them and smiles at the pair, “Good morning, Louis and Eleanor.”

                “Morning,” Louis says over Eleanor’s greeting. God, she sucks at interviews. Louis is much more natural in front of the camera.

                Andrew begins the interview, “So how has South Korea been treating you so far?”

                “Amazing,” Eleanor cuts in, and then realizes that she spoke up and now everyone in the room is watching her, “I mean, Lou and I love the cold, and South Korea is really cold right now, haha.”

                Thankfully, everyone laughs and Eleanor suspects that Louis’ louder laugh helps draw out other people to laugh.

                “Yeah, we like the cold, and this place is freezing-perfect for the Winter Olympics,” Louis comments, and then adds, “I also quite like the culture, ya know? Korea has a long history of winter games, and they particularly love skating so we fit right in. I think it’s the perfect place for the Olympics.”

                Boom. That’s why Louis does most of the talking in interviews.

                “And K-Pop,” Eleanor adds on, smirking at her partner, “Lou here just can’t get enough K-Pop.”

                Louis hates any sort of pop music, but he plays along, “What can I say? It’s catchy.”

                “It sure is!” Rebecca agrees easily, “Now, you two have done exceptionally well coming into the Olympics. Last year was a successful year for you two after you guys went on a brief hiatus the year before. You come to the Olympics with your seventh US Nationals and Third World Championships under your belts this season-that’s incredible!” Louis and Eleanor mutter humble ‘thanks you,’ “How does this affect your Olympics? Especially since these will be your last winter Olympics.”

                Eleanor takes the lead on this, “Yeah, it’s crazy to think that we’re ending our professional career soon. I think that, along with the great year we had just strokes the fire so to speak. We have the targets on our backs because we our world champs, and everyone wants to beat us. So Lou and I have upped our game. We practice as much as we can, we’re exercising like crazy, and we’re mediating to calm our nerves. We’re lasered focused on making our programs as technical as they can be and we want to end the games by saying to ourselves that we delivered our best programs ever.”

                She looks over to find Louis smiling softly at her. He reaches over and squeezes her shoulder quickly. It leaves a whisper of heat on her and is gone by the time Louis pulls his arm back to his side.

                “We have a great team,” Louis adds on, and Eleanor hums in agreement, “Our Coach Nadine, our trainer Mike, our choreographer Harry Styles, and our designer Fredrick, and other members of our team as well are all just amazing, amazing people and there’s no way we would be here without their guidance and support.”

                Andrew nods, “A great team makes all the difference,” he comments and then asks, “Louis, we just saw that you touch Eleanor’s shoulder in a very tender way. Throughout your careers you two have insisted that there’s nothing romantically between you two. But fans all over the world insist you two are together. Are you guys okay with fans fantasizing your relationship?”

                Eleanor’s heart ribbits in her chest, but she makes herself chuckle.

                “I mean,” Louis begins, almost sighing, “For us, we’re okay with that. We have a very unique relationship, one that I cannot ever possibly describe. We know everything about each other, and we’re the only one who can fully understand our experiences. I love Eleanor, and I know she loves me, but with our love there’s no romance to it. It’s based on professional respect for each other and our friendship.”

 _There’s no romance to it._ Ouch.

“I can’t control what other people think about my relationship with Eleanor,” Louis says, “Those rumors and theories are fine for me and Els, but when our families are harassed about it, and our actual partners are too, it can annoy them and in turn it affects us.”

“But you’re both currently single, right?” Rebecca asks.

“Hmm,” Louis hums to confirm.

Eleanor nods, “Yep,” she confirms, desperately single, “It’s really hard to date someone when you work and train as hard as we do. It consumes your life.”

“So after the Olympics are over you hang up your skates for good,” Andrew begins, “What are you gonna do with your lives? Do you want to get away from the rink or is that not even possible because it’s been your lives for so long?”

Louis goes first, “I don’t think I could fully get away from the ice, really,” he says and Eleanor smiles. She knows this to be incredibly true, as Louis comes to life in a pair of skates, “I like the idea of working with kids, maybe as a coach one day. Our childhood coaches, Devona and Luca, brought me and El together and they literally changed our lives. I love to do that for kids one day who want to skate.”

“Aw that is lovely!” Rebecca comments, turning to Eleanor, “And you Eleanor? Where do you see yourself after the Olympics?”

“I think I’ll step back from the ice,” Eleanor says, “I have a lot of other passions. I live to write, and draw. I have a huge passion for the arts and learning, and I want to attend university one day to study art history. I also love traveling and I think that’s what I would do first after the Olympics. It’s funny, Lou and I travel all over the world for competitions, but we never do any touristy stuff. It’ll be nice to go somewhere and not skate for days on end.”

“Where would you go first?” Andrew asks curiously.

“Amsterdam,” Louis butts in surely just as Eleanor answers, “I’m thinking Amsterdam.” They share some laughs, and Eleanor goes on to explain, “Yeah, I’ve been talking about it for a while I guess. I’m sure Louis’ excited to see me go on this trip so that I won’t talk his ear off about it anymore.”

“We’re running out of time,” Rebecca says, “But I have one more question for both of you, but mainly Louis.”

Louis sits up a little, “Go on then.”

“Two years ago, you lost your mother Johannah to Leukemia,” Rebecca says, and Eleanor tenses up.

No, God. Fuck no. They weren’t supposed to ask any questions about that. Eleanor out of reflex reaches over and holds Louis’ forearm. He’s stiff under her hand, and she notices his leg is bouncing under the desk. His face his blank, with a harsh edge to it and once again, she can’t read him.

“Your mother, like both of your families, have been with your guys for each competition,” Rebecca continues, “What would Johannah say to you right now?”

It’s the first time during the interview that Louis actually looks like he’s flustered.

Eleanor takes over quickly.

“The loss of Jay was heartbreaking,” she says sincerely, and cracked a fond smile, “Jay was like a second mother to me. She adapted me into her family since Lou and I were paired up. She always said the same thing at the beginning of any competition. She would tell us not to think, because we would know the program like the back our hands already. Jay used to say to just skate, give everything we had to give in our program, and everything would be fine. Just go out and skate.

“I’m certain Jay is watching over us, and she’ll be with us on the ice today. We’ve skated every program during the season for her, and we will do that during the Olympics.”

Louis wordlessly, almost too naturally slips his arm back until his hand is under hers. In an instant, Eleanor captures his hand in hers. Fuck the interviewers, fuck the camera, and fuck all the rumors.

Fuck everything.

As soon as they’re off air, Eleanor pulls Louis’ up from his chair and they leave the set, ignoring the interviewer’s attempts to shake their hands. She’s fuming, absolutely pissed off by how things ended, but waits until they’re back in their dressing room before letting it show.

“What the Hell was that?!” Eleanor yelled at Chloe, their publicist. The poor woman trembles before her.

“I-I dunno,” Chloe insists, “I told the network no questions about Jay, I swear.”

Eleanor looks over to Louis, who’s still weirdly acting like none of this happened. He’s aloof, ignoring the yelling and opting to look at the snow falling outside the large window.

“Well make sure future interviews have no mention of Jay,” Eleanor demands and Chloe nods.

“I’m sorry this happened, guys. I-I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

“You better,” she replies shortly, “I swear to God, we won’t agree to anymore interviews in they ask about Jay. I’ll storm off the set, I swear-”

“Jesus, El,” Louis sighs, exhausted. Eleanor stops and finds Louis shaking his head. She looks over to Chloe.

“Give the network a warning, now,” she tells their publicist. With that, Chloe frantically leaves the room, and everything is quiet once again. Eleanor sighs as she looks at Louis, wanting desperately to reach out to him. But she can’t tell how he’s gonna react, so she stays put.

“I’m fine, El,” he says after a while, his voice robotically. He looks over to her and smiles weakly, “I promise I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, Lou,” Eleanor murmurs, her own voice thick, “God, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Louis pushes himself off the wall and walks the four steps to Eleanor. During those steps, Eleanor breaks down, tears freely pouring from her eyes. Louis’ there though, and pulls her into his chest, trying to calm her down as best as he can.

“There, there, El,” he soothes, “I know.”

Eleanor shakes her head in his chest, “I-I miss her so much, L-Lou.”

“I do too, like crazy lately,” Louis confesses, but then adds, “But not talking about my mom isn’t gonna make it any less painful. Believe me, Els-I tried not thinking about my mom for a long time, but I couldn’t do it. I realized, it wasn’t fair to try and forget her. It’s not fair to never mention my mom because it makes me sad sometimes-”

“You were depressed, Lou!” Eleanor reminds him, “You were a mess after Jay died and you weren’t yourself and you fucked off for three months and never even told me goodbye.”

Louis sighs and hugs her harder, “I’m sorry, El. But we can’t just not talk about my mom because you’re afraid I’ll get depressed again. I’m in therapy, Els. I’m fine, I swear to God I’m okay. And I knew that one day I’d be asked about my mom in an interview. It just, caught me off guard. But I’m fine.

“Promise?” Eleanor sniffles as she wipes her tears.

Louis grins softly and combs her hair with his fingers, “Promise. Now, let’s go to practice. We have a gold medal to win today.”

Eleanor cracks a grin as Louis ruffles her hair at the scalp.

God, she loves him so fucking much.

~~~

_Birmingham, Michigan 2008_

_“Why do I need to dress up again?” Eleanor asked for the ninth time that night. She grimaced with each step she took in her heels, and a Bobbi pin in her high bun was piercing her head. For some reason, her mom picked out a silky plum colored dress for her to wear that night. It looked super fancy with rhinestone touches on the straps and a lower backline._

_Her mother sighed, “Eleanor Jane, I keep telling you. We’re going to a charity gala tonight.”_

_“And what charity is this for again?”_

_“Uh,” Eleanor’s father looked back at her as they approached the banquet hall, “Toys for Tots.”_

_“Toys for Tots is having a charity event in June?” Eleanor deadpanned. Someone was quite off._

_But Eleanor’s mother waved her hand, “Why does the charity even matter, hm? We were invited to come here and so we’re here to raise money for surely, a good cause. Now stop asking so many questions and let me take another picture of you by the door.”_

_The teen rolled her eyes but posed perfectly for another picture._

_“I need to make a call for work!” Eleanor’s dad stated awkwardly as soon as they got inside, “If I’m not back in five, just go inside without me.”_

_Just as Eleanor watched her father run down the hallway and out of sight, her mom said, “I really need to go to the bathroom, might be a while. Just wait five minutes and go in the hall without me okay?”_

_Eleanor sighed as her mother left her. It was awfully quiet in the lobby, which seemed odd because the banquet hall was just on the other side of the door. Wasn’t there supposed to be a gala? Weren’t there other people inside the hall? She didn’t hear any voices or even music for that matter. She shrugged if off and checked her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit, her mother did a wonderful job picking out her dress._

_Five minutes later, Eleanor looked for any signs of her folks. When it was clear they were not nearby, she sighed again to herself and opened the door to the banquet hall._

_“SURPRISE!”_

_Eleanor literally stepped back from the loud voices shouting at her. She looked all over the room and-and all her friends were there, and her parents and Louis’ family were all smiling happily at her. They were all dressed in nice suits and dresses as well. She gasped as she took in the room, noticing the streamers dangling, the bright blue lights and the small white balloons and stars floating on the ceiling._

_She then noticed the massive sign on the back wall._

_‘Senior Prom 2008.’_

_“What-” Eleanor breathed out, but she stopped when the crowd parted, and Louis was there. He grinned sheepishly as he approached her, wearing a spiffy black tux and the dress vest and bow tie happened to match her dress perfectly. His hair was parted to the side, and his normal fringe was in a high quaff. He held a carnation in his hand and Eleanor’s heart danced in her chest._

_“Hey, El,” Louis greeted her._

_Eleanor beamed as she asked, “What’s all this?” she asked._

_“Well you missed your prom last month because we were at competing in Moscow last month,” Louis reminded her, “And no one should miss their Senior prom so, our families threw this together for you.”_

_“Really?” she asked, her voice suddenly thick._

_Louis bit his lip and nodded, “Will you be my date tonight, Els?”_

_Eleanor could only nod, not trusting her own voice. The room cheered again, and Louis slipped the carnation onto her wrist. Once it was on, she hugged him deeply._

_“Thank you,” she sighed into his ear, “This is, so much. All too much.”_

_“Those no such thing as never enough for you, Els,” Louis commented. He drew back and winked down at her, his lips smirking proudly. It made Eleanor weak in the knees._

_The prom was simply magical. The menu was full of all of Eleanor’s favorite foods, but she especially loved dessert, which was an ice cream sundae bar with a chocolate fountain and all possible snacks to dip in it. The music was loud and endless and perfect to dance to. She danced with all her friends, and even Louis’ sisters as well._

_Eleanor’s favorite part though, was at the beginning when Louis and Eleanor posed in the cheesy way that all prom couples do under an arch of sliver stars and baby blue balloons. Their moms fawned over them as they watched and insisted on taking several pictures of them in various poses. Louis groaned quietly as his Jay moved him and Eleanor in ideal spots before each photo. Truth be told, Eleanor was kinda sad when the pictures were done, because she was no longer in his chest with his arms wrapped around her body and his hands gripping her hips._

_God, she was so pathetic, pining over a boy for most of her life who showed zero interest in her._

_But she couldn’t help it; Louis was just so incredible._

_Towards the end of the night, Eleanor found herself in the restroom fixing up her lipstick. Jay came in a moment or so after her and she was quick to give Eleanor a hug. Eleanor took it happily, as Jay has watched her grow along side Louis and she sees Jay almost as much as she sees her own mother._

_“Are you having a good time, dear?” Jay asked._

_“This whole night is just wonderful,” Eleanor told her dreamily, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you and my mom enough for putting this all together for me.”_

_Jay stopped fluffing her hair out, “Wait, what?” Eleanor looked at her timidly in the mirror._

_“Well, yeah,” she stuttered, “I mean, that’s what Lou said-that you two felt sorry I missed my prom, so you guys did all this for me._

_Jay looked down and unsurely at the sink._

_“What?” Eleanor pressed, turning to her. Jay faced her calmly, and softly grabbed her shoulders._

_“Sweetie, your mom and I didn’t plan any of this,” she admitted._

_Eleanor frowned, “What? But Louis said you-”_

_“No, El,” Jay smiled and told her, “Louis put this all together for you. He got Lottie and Fizz to help him out for decorations, but-Eleanor. He did this all because he knew you were sad you had to skip your prom and he can’t stand seeing you sad.”_

_Eleanor took in this information, feeling giddy and confused all at the same time._

_“If he told you your mom and I set this all up, then he clearly doesn’t want you to know,” Jay told her with a small smile, “Just know, Eleanor—Louis adores you. You mean the world to him, and I don’t know if he’ll ever get it through his thick skull that you two are soulmates-”_

_“J-Jay,” Eleanor croaked._

_But Jay smiled and stroked her cheek, “Just don’t give up on him, okay? He did all this thinking you are just his friend, and I don’t think he would ever do something like this for another girl, El. He has a lot of growing up to do, sweetie, but he has a good heart. One day, he’ll realize that there’s no one else like you and there will never be anyone else like you.”_

_Jay kissed Eleanor on the forehead and slipped out of the restroom, but Eleanor was stunned still. Louis did this, put together a fucking prom and got her a fucking carnation, just to make her happy? Louis didn’t go to his own prom because he thought it school dances were stupid, and yet he planned one out for Eleanor, and wore a matching color tux vest and bowtie that coordinated with her dress because it made her smile._

_When Eleanor was saying goodbye to the final guests leaving an hour later, Louis was lingering in the back by the DJ booth. Her last few friends were talking her ear off and she could focus on them because Louis taking his coat off. She gulped as he slipped his vest off and hung it off the back of a chair. Her knees wobbled as he unclipped his bowtie and unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt. Holy fuck, he was too hot to be real._

_“Finally,” Louis said once Eleanor’s friends were gone. He grinned mischievously at her, “I thought they’d never leave.”_

_Eleanor tilted her head and smiled, “What else do you have up your sleeves, Tommo?”_

_The boy curled his lips in, as if he could barely contain his excitement. He reached behind the DJ booth and Eleanor’s chest swelled as she saw two plastic gold crowns in his hands, one more like a tiara and the other looking more masculine. Louis was beaming as he walked up to her carefully with one crown in each hand._

_“Every prom needs a king and queen, Els,” he stated, as if it were obvious. He grew bashful before her and he shrugged, “You’re the queen, as always.”_

_Eleanor scoffed, her cheeks flushed and heated, “Was there some sort of democratic vote on this?”_

_“Nope,” he replied shamelessly, “No one even stood a chance against you, Els.” He extended his hand that had the tiara towards her._

_But Eleanor nabbed the crown instead, “I wanna be king,” she boasted and placed it on her head. It fit like a glove, the band running straight across her forehead just above her eyebrow._

_“What?! Nooo,” Louis whined and actually pouted._

_“Why can’t I be king, Lou? Is it because I’m a girl?” she retorted with a cocked eyebrow._

_Louis replied easily, his head shaking, “I have a massive head, and this dinky tiara will make it look like a bobblehead.”_

_Eleanor snickered and took the tiara from his hand. She stepped up in front of him and placed the tiara in the middle of his scalp, the tiara positioned so it was propped higher up. Eleanor briefly looked down at Louis’ eyes, and saw he was staring at her. She quickly stepped back and examined her handy work. Louis was right, he looked utterly ridiculous in a tiara. But she wouldn’t have him any other way._

_“We look good in gold,” Eleanor comments, smirking knowingly._

_Louis chuckled, “We always do, babe,” he assured her. Eleanor smiled, so wide it hurt her cheeks and she couldn’t look at him because it hurt._

_One day, Eleanor told herself. One day._

_“The king and queen need to dance,” Louis commented, and moved back to the DJ table, “I paid the DJ off with a few drinks to give us his equipment for a half hour, so we could have one last dance.”_

_The song started a second later and it was just the cherry on the cake for the whole night. ‘Look After You,’ by The Fray came on, Louis’ favorite song that he sang all the time. Eleanor walked up to him with quick, determined steps and just as Louis turned around to face her again, Eleanor was pulling his face in for a kiss._

_Eleanor thought about kissing Louis again every day for five years, since he kissed her on the ice. Louis seemed shell shocked for a moment before his arms held onto the back of her forearms to keep her close. They deepened the kiss, and Eleanor was really seeing stars-actual tiny specks of diamonds behind her eyes. She never wanted any of this to end._

_But sadly, she needed to breathe._

_Once she drew back, Eleanor knew she couldn’t kiss him again. Louis wouldn’t go for it, because he just seemed so confused but happily dazed at the same time, his baby blue eyes somehow brighter then ever before._

_“Wha-”_

_Eleanor cut him off, “Thank you,” she whispered. She gulped, her head shaking, “Just—thank you for everything Louis.”_

_She wrapped her right arm around his waist. With her left hand, she linked their hands together with their elbows bent and their arm extended to her left and up slightly. Louis began swaying and Eleanor naturally laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes, being lulled by The Fray and Louis’ hastened heartbeat._

_It was there, in the ballroom with confetti and balloons on the floor, that Eleanor vowed she would wait for Louis, no matter how long it took._

~~~

 Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Six/Day Seven

                “I can’t believe you shoved your crotch in his face!” Niall yells for the fifth time in a matter of hours about Eleanor and Louis’ free style program they did at the Team Skate event that afternoon. His laugh is deep and resounding and utterly annoying.

                Eleanor sighs, “Again, my crotch wasn’t actually in his face, Ni!” Because it wasn’t—it was just a maneuver.

                They’re back at the village, with today’s events being down. Of course, there are parties in every dorm. Eleanor heard that the parties being thrown by the Germans are utterly wild. She wouldn’t know, because she has a strict no partying policy when it comes to the Olympics. It just would cause her to lose focus on the task at hand. Louis has gone to Olympic parties before here and there but would never go all out either. They both had incredible control, like most athletes do. Getting to the Olympics is just a start, however.

                Niall, though, was hell bent on seeing Eleanor drunk off her ass.

                Speaking of the man, he leans back in his chair and smirks at her, “But I bet you sure wish your crotch was in Lou-ow!” Eleanor wouldn’t let Niall dare finish that sentence, as a good punch to his gut shut him up for good, “Fuck Els!”

                “You’re a dick,” she comments fondly, as she looks herself in standing mirror again in her dorm.

_“We look good in gold.”_

_“We always do, babes.”_

Eleanor smirks at the memory as her hand traces the gold medal hanging off her neck. It sits low on her, with the medal just hitting above her belly button.

                Niall coughs as he takes another sip of his beer, “Congrats again. Team USA skaters are a beast this year.”

                “Yes we are,” Eleanor agrees. She turns and faces him, “You’ll the feeling in a few days when you win the short speed-skate Ni.”

                Niall coos, “Thanks El. We’ll see, fucking Denmark is slotted to win but we’ll see.”

                A group of French girls pass Eleanor’s open door in a fit of giggles and it’s clear they’re drunk. Loud cheers come from one of the other dorms down the hall and Eleanor jolts at the sound of breaking glass.

                Adults, these are grown adults behaving this way.

                “Why aren’t you celebrating?” Niall asks, again.

                Eleanor replies easily, “We have training early tomorrow.” But Niall still wasn’t accepting that answer.

                “But you and Louis got a gold medal today!” he points out, “if that’s not a good reason to partying your brains out I dunno what is.”

                “Lou’s partying,” Eleanor comments and shrugs, “Said something about getting together with Liam and hanging out with some guys from Team Great Britain.”

                “You should be with him!” Niall tells her, “God, you’ve been a responsible adult your whole life. How many thousands of hours have you spent training and practicing in your lifetime?”

And well, Eleanor doesn’t think she could ever begin to answer that.

“You have time to practice and train all week,” Niall reminds her, as the short program doesn’t happen until next Sunday. The man shrugs, “Just give yourself a couple of hours to relax and celebrate. When was the last time you got laid?”

“Niall!” Eleanor gasps, scandalized.

The man blinks at her, “Oh my God-has it really been that long?!”

Eleanor merely looks up at the ceiling. In all honesty, she can’t think of the last time she had sex. It had to have been before the current season, right? But really, there would never be enough hours in the day for her to try and recall. And in all honesty, every time she’s had sex before, her mind has slipped away, and she would start thinking of Louis just to finish. Eleanor’s ashamed of this, for sure, but she couldn’t help it.

“Skating’s my life,” Eleanor replies.

Niall scoffs, “No shit! Did you know the Olympics gives each athlete here like fifty condoms?”

“That many?” Eleanor thought, almost horrified. Jesus, the Olympics were only two weeks! How could anyone go through fifty condoms?

“It’s always been my goal to sleep with one girl from every country here,” Niall bemuses, and Eleanor throws the plush toy of a white tiger she was giving along with her gold medal.

“You’re disgusting.”

Niall barely flinches at the remark, “And you need to get fucked. There’s Dominic from Team USA. He’s an Alpine Skier and looks about your type.”

“Niall,” Eleanor chides.

But of course, he goes on, “I’m good acquaintances with a guy from Norway named Nikko. He’s in snowboarding and has like stupid long hair but he’s nice enough.”

Eleanor sighs, “No-”

“This dude named Patrick from South Africa is a luger and apparently is great in bed and-”

“Oh my God, please shut up!” Eleanor begs.

Niall groans, “Fine, don’t get laid tonight. But at least have a drink or two yeah? Dance a little maybe, and just let loose, Els.”

Eleanor ponders over this. She’s worked her ass off for the last few years, and Louis was letting off some steam tonight. Why shouldn’t she do the same thing?

“Just a drink,” she tells Niall, who cheers happily. Eleanor grins, “I’m gonna try to find Lou and hang out with him.”

“And I’m off to Finland’s quarters in hopes of scoring a hot blonde,” Niall boasts.

Eleanor grimaces, “Try not to make any more enemies for America, Ni.”

“I can’t promise that.”

Shaking her head, Eleanor ventures down the halls to find Louis. The layout for rooms at the village is disorderly, and pure chaos. They don’t even try to separate the men and women in different buildings, and even if they it wouldn’t make a lick of difference. Eleanor moves through every common area, each packed full of half-drunk athletes shouting, dancing and making out in every open space. But none of them have Louis.

She finally goes to a common area few floors up from hers. Eleanor rounds the corner and-

Fuck.

Louis on the couch right in the middle of the commons area, and there’s a girl in his lap. The music is thudding in Eleanor’s ear and there’s a girl sitting on Louis’ lap. She tastes bile in the back of her throat, and there is a girl sitting on Louis’ lap. She watches, too horrified to look away, as said girl leans in and whispers in his ear. He laughs at her joke, grinning from ear to ear. He likes her, and why shouldn’t her? Based on her sweatshirt, this girl is French and probably has a cute accent that Louis likes. His hands, those hands that have touched and lead Eleanor through all their routines for twenty-fucking years are on that girl’s hips, just above her ass.

The girl leans down and-no. Eleanor can’t watch them kiss.

She practically runs back down the hall she came from, stupid tears stinging her eyes. It’s not the first time Eleanor has seen Louis with another woman, of course no. Over the years, Louis dated plenty of girls. There was Hannah, his first girlfriend he dated for a while when he was sixteen. After they broke up, Louis didn’t date for a little bit until after the 2010 Olympics. Then he met Briana, and they lasted a few months before they realized they weren’t compatible. A couple years later, Louis began dating Danielle and Eleanor was terrified because she seemed different from the others. It seemed like Danielle was gonna be the one, the one to finally take Louis away from Eleanor for good. But after a year, Louis told Eleanor that him and Danielle were done, and he wouldn’t tell her why they broke up. Those were Louis’ official relationships over the years, but here and there he would spend time with other women for a date or two, or to be fuck buddies for a while.

So, all in all, Eleanor should be used to this—to seeing Louis with other girls then.

But she wasn’t, she never got used to Louis being with another woman other than her.

It hurt every fucking time she saw him holding hands or kissing other women.

Mindlessly, Eleanor wonders into a corridor just above her floor. She just wants to get back in her dorm, have a good cry for hours, maybe take a long hot shower and try to go to bed without thinking of Louis.

Instead, she bumps into two men, literally.

“Oh God, I-I’m so sorry,” Eleanor stutters, avoiding looking up at them.

One of the men replies, “ _Ciao bella_!”

Eleanor frowns at looks up at them. Italian—she just so happened to run two tall, tan and simply gorgeous Italian men after seeing the man she loves with kissing someone else. And she doesn’t speak much Italian (although she’s been their several times for competitions), but she knows that ‘bella’ means beautiful. They called her beautiful just a second after meeting her.

Louis hasn’t called Eleanor beautiful in years.

“Hello,” the other Italian men says in broken English. He points to his chest, “I’m Paolo, and this is Salvadore. We call him Sal.”

“We?” Eleanor asks.

Sal answers this time, “We’re cross country.”

Ah.

“Cool,” she replies, not knowing what to say, “I’m Eleanor, ice dancing for Team USA.”

Paolo speaks up, “Have you been cry-crying?” he corrects himself. Sure, French accents may be nice and all, but nothing can beat Italian accents. And Eleanor’s found herself with two charming Italian men at that!

Suck on that, Louis.

“Rough day,” Eleanor tells him.

 _“Che terribile!”_ Sal says, and Eleanor nods as if she understands what he said, “Uh, we’re going to party with the Germans, aye? Why don’t you join us?”

Eleanor briefly thinks of Louis, but still finds herself nodding. She follows them down the hallway just, just wanting so badly to forget about Louis, just this one time.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! So this chapter contains two smut scenes, the first being in the past. It kinda has dubious consent, in that Louis kinda takes control and has sex his own way and Eleanor wants sex with him, but not necessarily in the manner he's doing it but she doesn't stop him. This gets resolved before the second sex scene (which does have verbal consent on both parties!) but I still wanted to bring this up as a warning I guess. 
> 
> Again, the version of With or Without You is on Spotify by Scala and Kalacny Brothers and it's the version with the strings! I hope to get a link on here for that soon! 
> 
> Anyway, please read and enjoy! :)

She’s flying.

                Like, she’s actually flying higher than a fucking kite. Eleanor’s having a great time, a wonderful time in fact! She’s danced with cute boys from all over the world and she hasn’t thought of Louis in-

                Dammit.

                Eleanor sloppily takes another sip of vodka.

                She doesn’t exactly recall how long it’s been since her Italian boys brought her to the German’s lounge. But Eleanor was given a Jägermeister within five minutes of being there and—yep. American beer is shit compared to real deal German beer. She let loose after that, freely dancing to some European pop music on tables and letting guys touch her body freely.

                If Louis is allowed to touch other girls, then she was allowed to let other guys touch her body.

                Dammit, Eleanor pouts as she takes another sip of alcohol. He’s still fresh in her mind. It’s like a little piece of Louis latched onto a long time ago and it makes it impossible for him to leave.

                But going back to this totally awesome party Eleanor’s at. Right. At some point in the night, half of team Russian came in. It’s weird, how the Olympics are just some sort of truce between countries for a few weeks. Eleanor thought she shouldn’t party with the Russians, because it felt strangely an unamerican thing to do. But then she recalled how the South Koreans are on the same team with fucking North Koreans so. If they can put their differences aside to compete, then surely Eleanor can party with the Russians, right?

                And anyway, they brought good vodka. It’s beautiful really, how this party is some sort of melting pot of all nations, each bring their very best to share with their neighbors both near and far. The Italians actually brought biscotti from home, which is supposed to help soak up some of the alcohol.

                How sweet.

                “You’re wild!” Paolo yells in her ear over the music. Eleanor giggles, failing to realize she still had half a bottle of pure Russian vodka. He slips his hands to her hips, and Eleanor hums happily. She grids against him perfectly matching the beat to the music. She positively grins in victory as Paolo groans and mutters, _“Fanculo,”_ lowly, hotly, and Eleanor takes that as a good sign.

                She spins around, nearly toppling over but thankfully sweet, cute Paolo holds her upright. He’s got honey sweet brown eyes and his hair is black and-and

                And none of this is right. He should be little bit shorter, less tanned. His eyes should be bright blue and his hair should have a fringe and amber instead.

                Eleanor takes another sip of alcohol before sliding her knee against his front. Paolo cracks a grin and slips his hands into the back pockets of Eleanor’s jeans. He lowers his head and kisses her jawline and it’s just—so, so wrong, but she doesn’t pull back. Instead, she screws her eyes tight and takes another sip of vodka.

                “Back off, pal.”

                Eleanor opens her eyes and—no. It can’t. She blinks her eyes to make the blurriness go away because she swears Louis is there. But that can’t be right. He’s off fucking the fucking Frenchy girl that was all over him before.

                She goes for another drink and feels the bottle being pulled from her hand. She frowns and looks around for it. Where could her precious bottle of vodka have gone? Come back vodka!

                “That’s enough, El,” and God, Eleanor rubs her head because she’s even hallucinating Louis’ voice.  A forceful hand grabs her wrist and pulls her away from pretty Paolo.

                “Hey man!” pretty Paolo yells.

                And God, Eleanor’s still hallucinating Louis’ voice as someone who just sounds like him says, “El? Eleanor are you okay? Els, please look at me, babe.”

                Eleanor stumbles back and forces her eyes open, the steady hands she knows so well keeps her up. She blinks several times, the fuzzy edges going away and reveal Louis’ face. And he—he looks fucking pissed.

                “L-Lou?” Eleanor mutters in disbelief.

                Louis pulls her closer, “C’mon, we’re leaving.”

                “No!” Eleanor shouts childishly. She tries to break free from Louis’ hold but can’t. She pouts, “I wanna s-stay and dance and drink and have _funnnn!”_

                She turns around too quickly and promptly falls backwards.

                Louis’ catches her under her arms, he always seems to catch her.

                God, she needs more of that vodka. Where’s the vodka?

                “El, Jesus,” Louis groans, and sighs, “You can’t even fucking stand straight. You’ve had enough, I’m taking you back to your dorm.”

                Paolo speaks up for some reason, “Hey, she wants to stay with me!”

                “Well she’s not going to,” Louis says firmly, plainly, “I’m her partner, and we’re leaving. C’mon El—stand up. Yeah, just lean on me babe.”

                Eleanor can barely walk, and Louis resorts to having to drag her out of the room. He smells nice, as he always does, like expensive cologne and cinnamon and Louis, just all Louis. She loves this scent loves it so much and lunges at Louis’ body to get more of it.

                “God, El,” Louis sighs, sounding quite annoyed. He pulls her back up and wraps her arm over his shoulder, “I haven’t seen you this drunk since we came in third at the Worlds five years ago.”

                Eleanor billows, “We were gypped, Lou!” she rants loudly, “That team from fucking Thailand were shit—we should’ve gotten second place. Fucking gypped, Lou” she hiccups, and it makes Louis chuckle a little. Eleanor likes making Louis’ laugh. He has a nice laugh.

                “Yeah we totally were, Els,” Louis agrees easily, “El, we have to go down a floor, so I’m gonna pick you okay?”

                Eleanor pushes him away stubbornly, “I’m not a baby, Louis.”

                “You’re acting like one,” Louis mutters under his breath. Eleanor doesn’t protest when Louis picks her up in his arm, holding her like a bride. She tucks herself into his neck and loops her arms around the opposite shoulder.

                When they get back to their floor, Louis asks, “El, why did you get so drunk tonight?”

                Eleanor scoffs, “It’s called having fun Lou. And I’m allowed to have it every once in a while, too.”

                “Of course, you are, Els,” Louis says, “but you went too far tonight. Niall saw you and said you were doing body shots off of fucking Russians, El.”

                Hm, did she really do that? Jesus.

                “That’s what fun is Lou,” Eleanor says. She jabs her finger into Louis’ chest, “You got to m-make with some Frenchy, but I can’t do body shots off of Russians? Fuck you, Lou.”

                Eleanor rolls out of his arms, stumbling slight as she gets to her feet. Her dorm is right there, and she stomps inside it. Louis follows her, of course he does, and closes the door behind him. Eleanor looks around her room, frowning at it.

                “El, what the Hell are you going on about?” Louis asks her, and that—that is just too fucking much. Eleanor glares him down.

                “Did you fuck her, Lou?” Eleanor asks harshly. She’s never ever been so blunt on Louis’ sex life before but dammit, she needs to know.

                Louis shakes his head, “Jesus El. What’s-”

                “Tell me, Lou!” Eleanor insists, her hand gripping his shirt. She whispers brokenly, “D-Did she let you fuck her from behind like you did to me and then you just f-fucked off? Is that what you do, Lou? Fuck girls from behind and then act like it n-never happened?”

                Annoyingly, Louis doesn’t say anything. He just looks at her with shock, with hurt and—fuck him, honestly. How dare he feel hurt? Eleanor’s been wonderful for him, been there for him whenever he needed her.

                Eleanor pulls him closer, hissing at him, “Was she better then me, Lou? I can be better than her Lou—I know I can. Was I s-so bad back then? Is that why you acted like we never fucked?”

                “El,” Louis breathes out, looking mortified that she brought that up.

                Because it’s been two years, and neither one of them ever brought it up. She can’t speak for Louis but her for, it’s been killing Eleanor for two fucking years. But if it weren’t for the booze, she wouldn’t have mentioned it at all.

                Bile rushes up Eleanor’s throat when she realizes what she’s done, and she runs off to the restroom.

                Louis follows right behind her and holds her hair back as she vomits in the toilet.

                They have a long few days ahead of them.

~~~

Birmingham, Michigan 2016

                _In all the years Louis and Eleanor had been skating together, they never went more then two days without talking to each other._

_Yeah, they were partners, but they were more then that. Louis was Eleanor’s best friend, her confidant. If something good happened to her, Eleanor would go to Louis and he would celebrate with her. If something had gone in her life, Louis was always there to give her advice. Louis would ball up and get into a state of mind where only Eleanor could convince him he was okay. She had a bag of stupid little jokes that would always make Louis laugh and loosen up when he was tense. They texted each other almost nonstop, even if they were just separated for a matter of hours. In the down season when they were on holiday, they would always make the effort to talk to each other every other day._

_They were inseparable, until Jay died._

_Watching Louis in those months between Jay’s diagnosis and her passing was terrible. Eleanor found herself in a weird place where she could no longer reach him. He was so closed off, so numbed by his mom’s sickness that Eleanor couldn’t tell what he was thinking. And that was fucking terrified for her. She knew Louis, knew all the ways the help him and be there for him. But her normal tricks weren’t working any more, and Eleanor felt utterly useless and helpless. As partners they were supposed to bring out the best in each other in any scenario, and Eleanor could do that for Louis._

_It also didn’t help that they made the decision to not compete that season. Louis was constantly with his mom and they had no time to practice. Eleanor was fine with this choice, even being the one that brought it up to Louis. Her shins were needed the break, and it was nice for Eleanor to get away from the ice for a bit to try and grasp Jay’s sickness and life outside the rink. But for Louis, being away from the ice turned out to be a bad thing. He, like Eleanor, came alive on the ice, it was their passion and life work. Louis being away from the ice and being surrounded by his mother’s sickness and his family’s pain at all hours of the day was too much for him. Louis was so depressed and anxious to the point where he couldn’t take care of himself anymore. He was broken, and that made Eleanor broken as well._

_Eleanor knew Louis just needed time, time to regroup and sort himself out._

_But Louis had other ideas, apparently. After Jay’s funeral, Louis disappeared for a while._

_The day after Jay’s funeral, Eleanor was woken up by a call from Dan, desperately asking if Louis was there. He wasn’t, and Eleanor felt sick when she found out Louis had just vanished with most of his belongings. It freaked Eleanor for sure. In all the eighteen years she had known Louis, he never pulled a stunt like that, ever. Eleanor was on edge, feeling incomplete with Louis not around or even reachable. It affected her, making her cry for hours and not sleep at all at night. Every day not knowing where Louis was or if he was alive made her physically ill by day three. She tried calling Louis, but he didn’t pick up. She texted him several times for a few days, just begging him to text her back._

_But he didn’t._

_Eleanor didn’t hear from Louis for nearly two weeks._

_He called in her the middle of the night, and Eleanor answered it after the second ring._

_“Are you okay?” was the first thing Eleanor said._

_Louis assured her quickly, “I’m fine, Els. I’m okay.” Eleanor frowned._

_“Funny, that’s what you kept telling me all this time. And now you’re awol.” Louis sighed at Eleanor’s cold response._

_“Is my family okay?” he asked instead._

_Eleanor scoffed, “No, Lou. They’re all fucking devastated! Your siblings lost their mom and then their brother, the leader of them all, fucked off to God knows where without saying goodbye to any of us Lou. That’s not fucking cool—you scared the shit out of all of us! They’re not okay, just like you’re not either.”_

_“God,” Louis breathed out, “Look I know, it was a shit thing for me to do but Els—I just can’t do this right now.”_

_“Lou,” Eleanor sighed, “I know—you been through a lot these past few months. But what you did was wrong Lou. Your family is hurting too, they need you Louis. They need you to come back, they need you Louis.”_

_Louis paused, and then said, “I can’t Els. I just—I can’t do this.”_

_“Do what?” Eleanor asked._

_“Be strong,” Louis whispered, and it pinged Eleanor’s heart. He sighed deeply, “I couldn’t take it anymore El. I felt like everything was being ripped away from me. My mom died, El—she fucking died, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. And everyone kept saying how sorry they were for me, and looking at me all sadly and I—fuck Els. I just wanted to go some place where I’m not reminded all the time that my mom died.”_

_Eleanor blinked, and tears fell from her eyes, “Lou, why didn’t you tell us—tell me this? I would’ve-”_

_“Made me not sad anymore?” Louis said, and Eleanor imagined he had a little smile on his face, “El, you’re damn near perfect, but you can’t make me okay, not this time.”_

_Ouch. Eleanor looked up at the ceiling, her head shaking as she wiped her tears away, “Where are you, Louis?”_

_“I’m in a safe place, El,” Louis said, “I’m—sorting all this shit out on my own.”_

_“Will you come back?” Eleanor asked hesitantly._

_Louis assured her weakly, “When I’m my old self again,” and then he said, “Please tell my family I’m okay, and I’ll check in soon.”_

_“Lou, please don’t-”_

_“I love you, Els,” he said, voice thicker then normal. Eleanor knew how Louis meant it, but it still made her heart skip a beat, “And I’m sorry—I’m so fucking sorry.”_

_Eleanor listened to a solid two minutes of the flat tone on her phone after Louis ended the call._

_“I’m love you too,” she mumbled, stupidly wishing Louis would somehow get the message._

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Nine

                For two days, they don’t speak.

                Eleanor spent have the day after her crazy night with her face in the toilet, and then worked out in the afternoon by herself (which she needed to take several more breaks to vomit. Fuck Russian Vodka, honestly).

                The next day, Louis greeted Eleanor awkwardly on the ice and she could only muster a tensed wave a him. Despite all the drinking, she remembers way more about that night she would’ve liked. And she knows she brought up that shall not be mentioned. Eleanor’s ashamed for making things awkward between them, and during the Olympics no less.

                It affected their practice. Louis was hesitant to hold Eleanor’s body, and any time in their routines where they had to be in each other’s face, both avoided eye contact. Eleanor was trying her best, but it didn’t help that Louis was being awkward. His arms felt limp, his theatrics were phoned in and he kept tripping up on his own feet. Before they just had this natural chemistry and now, it was as if they were kids again, being shy and awkward and not speaking to each other.

                Their practice was so bad that even Harry noticed it and called them out on it.

                (“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!”

                “LOUIS YOU DO REALIZE THAT THIS IS ICE DANCE AND YOU NEED TO FUCKING HOLD ELEANOR DURING THIS ROUTINE RIGHT?!”

                “FOR FUCK’S SAKE EL—HE DOESN’T HAVE COOTIES! LET HIM LEAD!”          

 “YOU TWO ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER, NOT CONSTIPATED!”

“OH MY GOD!!! I NEED A MESSAGE AND GOOD NAP AFTER THIS FIASCO!”)

And then, after Harry ended practice with an epic rant, he pulled Eleanor aside. Harry looked awful, and she was pretty sure he popped a blood vessel in his neck from yelling so much.

“Whatever this shit is,” Harry said, “Fix it, now—or that gold medal is going to the French and all this would have been for nothing.”

Those words rang in Eleanor’s ear, but she still couldn’t bring herself to talk to Louis, not after everything she said and did.

Day Nine started out with a brutal morning work out thanks to Mike, and now Eleanor finds herself sitting in a make up chair with her hair being fluffed out.

Great, interviews with Louis is just what she wanted to do right now.

Louis’ already on the set when Eleanor gets there. He flashes her a half smile as she gets mic’ed up. They’re both decked out in official Team USA gear again, with Louis wearing the navy sweater with the cute bear mascot in the center, a beanie and white jeans.

God Eleanor loves it when Louis wears white jeans. It rare, like Haley’s comet rare, but when it does happen, his thick thighs and his sculped ass are a true divine vision in white.

Eleanor shakes her head and sits down beside him on the couch. Thankfully, their awkwardness is cut short as the cameras get rolling and the interviewers come on set.

“Now for those at home who are not exactly, well versed in the world of competitive ice dance,” one of the interviewers, a man from ESPEN named Jerry Colman, says after a few questions, “Can you explain how this works? You do have two routines you’ll do in the Olympics, right?”

Eleanor takes the question, nodding, “So for the entire ice dancing season at all competitions, skaters preform two routines. The first is the short dance, which tends to be more technical as far as scoring. You’re giving a certain amount of required moves you must do in your performance, including a series of moves and choreography that all skaters must do in front of the judges to prove their skill.”

“And it sounds like the theme of the short dance is also already picked out before hand, right?” the co-host, Priya Mann, explains for the audience, “This year’s theme for the short dance is Latin?”

“Right,” Louis confirms, “Latin dances more specifically, and we must incorporate elements of Cha-Cha, rumba, tango and salsa dance into our program. The judges are very strict about our program representing the theme, including music as well. We’re excited about our short dance this season because it’s fun, upbeat and a little sexy.”

Eleanor laughs awkwardly.

“So how does the freestyle differ from the short dance?” Jerry asks.

“Well,” Eleanor starts out, “The skaters have a lot more say in their program. Any music is free game, and any style of dance is allowed. The program is also longer in time then the short dance, so we can so off more techniques as well.”

“So we saw both of your programs a few nights ago in the team skating event, where you helped Team USA when gold—how did those programs feel to you guys?” Priya asks.

Louis nods, “Yeah, we felt solid about our skates that night. We just had a good vibe going into it, we felt confident on the ice, and we are happy about the scores we got. I don’t think you can ask for better results.”

“Now we have a few minutes left, so we’d like to ask some questions about each other okay?” Jerry asks, and Eleanor must restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

“Great,” Louis says, his voice higher then normal.

“Okay Eleanor,” Priya asks, reading off her cards, “What is Louis’ worst trait?”

Easily, Eleanor answers, “His stinky feet,” everyone laughs, including Louis. He has a fond smile as he looks at her, but it’s poorly masked by his protesting frown. For the first time in days, Eleanor feels relaxed around Louis once again, “What—it’s true! I don’t want to be anywhere near him when he unlaces his skates after practice.”

“Oh my!” Jerry comments, turning to Louis, “Alright Louis, what is Eleanor’s order at Starbucks.”

Louis answers almost immediately, “Okay, depending on her mood and the time of year, it’s either a Grande White Chocolate Mocha Frap with no whip, Toffee Nut Latte, or the caramel frap with no whip.”

“Yum!” Priya says, “I like your taste Eleanor!”

Eleanor shrugs, “I love my Starbucks—what can I say?”

“C’mon now,” Louis begs playfully, “Give Els a nice question about me!” The interviewers laugh and Eleanor smirks at her partner. Damn him and his stupid charm.

“Okay, Eleanor,” Priya begins, “What is Louis’ favorite food?”

Eleanor snickers, “Well, Lou hates training time and competing season because we are on a very strict diet.”

“God,” Louis groans as he throws his head back, “I’m so sick of steamed fish, like seriously.”

Eleanor giggles, “If it were up to Louis, he’d eat nothing but McDonalds and KFC all day.”

“There’s a Big Mac somewhere in South Korea with my name on it come Tuesday afternoon,” Louis says, and Eleanor knows he’s dead serious.

It’s they’re thing after big competitions are through to go get all the junk food they can get their hands on, eat way too much of it, and then watch a superhero movie (for Louis, always) while they complain about how they’re never eating again. Eleanor’s craving a slice of Domino’s pizza herself once the Olympics are done.

“Okay Louis,” Jerry says, “This will be your final question and then Eleanor will also give her response as well.”

Louis encourages it, “Ask away.”

“What is your favorite memory you have of Eleanor?”

They’ve been asked this question so many times before over the years. Eleanor is 95% sure Louis’ going to say the time she brought Louis to Port Austin for the first time and he got to see Lake Huron. It was always so special for Louis because he came from Iowa, a landlock state, and Michigan has massive lakes arching around the state. Eleanor loves that day too, as they spent all day splashing around in the lake. But today, the question hangs in the air between the awkwardly and she’s not certain of anything anymore with Louis. Louis shifts in his spot as he looks over at Eleanor. He hums, as if he’s greatly pondering this question.

“The first time we met,” Louis says, and it genuinely stuns Eleanor.

He’s never said that, ever.

“Really?” Priya asks, vocalizing what Eleanor was thinking.

Louis nods, biting his smile as he confesses, “It was on the rink, as most of our time is spent on. I was nine, and she was seven. I remember watching her warm up and I—I was so mesmerized by her talent and skill. Frankly, she scared the Hell out of me.”

The interviewers laugh, but Eleanor can barely breathe.

“So, I skated by her and pulled the ribbon out of her hair,” Louis says, smiling, “She was so pissed at me, and she chased after me on the ice. It was then I knew that she was the right partner for me. El could put up with my antics, that she wouldn’t be overshadowed by me. I was impressed, to say the least, and that feeling never faded away.”

Eleanor does her best not to seem too surprised by the answer, as they’re live on camera. But more then anything she wishes that there was no one else in the room, that Louis was just telling her this himself. Louis looks over at her and gives a bashful smile.

“Aw how sweet!” Jerry’s comment breaks Eleanor out of her daze, “Eleanor what-”

“Camping trip, when I was 20 and Lou was 22,” Eleanor explains, her eyes locked on Louis. He flinches a little in surprise, because Eleanor’s never told this story publicly before. But it’s one of her cherished memories she has of Louis.

“We went up in Northern Michigan, as there are a lot of woods up there. Our families went with us as well, but Lou and I decided to on a sunrise hike up a hill. We woke up at around six that morning and hiked for three hours to get to the top through thick wooded areas. The sunrise was beautiful, and worth the trip. But halfway down the hill, I slipped and badly twisted my ankle. I couldn’t walk on it.”

The interviewers frown, but Louis just still stares at her.

“He carried our two backpacks, plus me down a hill for almost two hours straight,” Eleanor continues, “When we got back to our campsite, I expected him to put me down but he didn’t He simply told our families what was going on, and then continued to carry me down to the medic cabin, another forty-five minutes away. He stayed with me the whole time as they wrapped me up, and then helped me walk on crutches to the campsite.”

Eleanor grins softly, “It was just one of those times that reaffirmed that Louis had my back, that he would always have my back. No matter what we go through, we’re there for each other and everyone deserves to have that kind of relationship in their life.”

The interview ends abruptly (thankfully) then. Louis and Eleanor awkwardly stand up and she moseys over to the table of food set up. Eleanor ponders over a banana for a snack or granola for some protein.

“Yes, pot stickers!” Louis suddenly cheers beside her. Eleanor looks over and sees Louis stacking three pot stickers on a small plate. He finally glances over to her, his face dumbfounded, “What?”

Eleanor shakes her head, smirking, “I don’t think pot stickers are allowed on our diet.”

“It has protein, chicken I think. Chicken’s good for ya, Els,” Louis reasons surely.

“I’m sorry,” Eleanor blurts out.

Louis shrugs if off, “It’s fine, I know you just want us to be our fittest. But three pot stickers isn’t gonna kill our chances of—”

“Lou,” Eleanor chides, playfully whacking his chest with her knuckles, “Not about the pot stickers. I’m sorry for two nights ago. I was—a mess, a fucking drunk mess. You were just trying to help me, and I know that, but I was so bratty and mean to you.”

“El, you were drunk off your ass,” Louis give her the excuse.

But she shakes her head, “Still doesn’t justify what I did and said to you. And I really, really shouldn’t have brought up that night. It’s not fair to either of us.”

Louis curls his lips inward, and he glances down as he nods.

“Look, I—” he sighs, almost sounding pained as he speaks, “About what happened two years ago—”

Eleanor stops him, “Let’s not talk about that, Lou.”

“El, it clearly hurts you,” Louis says, “And I feel like shit about it all the time.”

Well, that’s good to know.

“After the Olympics,” Eleanor assures him, “Then we’ll talk about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Louis agrees. He freezes, looking a bit unsure as he asks, “Can I—hug you, please?”

Eleanor grins brightly, “Get over here, Lou.”

Louis beams back at her and pulls her in for a deep hug. Eleanor feels everything; the weight of not talking to Louis for two days was ever present then. Louis drops his head and kisses the base of her neck while he rubs her back gently. Eleanor goes weak in the knees, as she always does when Louis’ involved somehow.

“Pretty Paolo,” Louis mutters into her shoulder, and Eleanor groans. She feels in grinning wickedly in her skin, “Really? You kept going on and on about pretty Paolo.”

“Ugh,” Eleanor sighs distastefully and breaks the hug, “Don’t remind me.”

But of course, Louis teases her, “I mean, really Els? You thought that guy was pretty? He was average at best—maybe a six?”

“Oh my God, Lou!” Eleanor whines, walking towards the dressing room in hopes of escaping this. But Louis follows her, because of course he would.

“He’s so not your type, Els! He looks like the kind of man that has ten girlfriends cheering him on at home. What were you think—ow! Jesus El, you’re stronger then you look.”

God, Eleanor’s missed this.

~~~

Birmingham, Michigan 2016

                _Louis came back home after nearly three months away._

_During that time, Eleanor tried to live some sort of normal life outside the rink. She started daring college courses at an online university. She got back into drawing and would spend hours drawing small objects around her house, and then eventually drawing figure skaters performing. Eleanor discovered a love for spin classes and goes twice a week. She also learned she loves poetry and would read poems before going to bed at night. She actually had time to plant flowers in her garden, something she couldn’t do before because she never had enough time to maintain a garden._

_It was a new routine, with some sort of structure and rhyme to it._

_Her new life without ice dance was also boring and incredible dull._

_And Eleanor’s life without Louis? Unbearable._

_It was late August, nearing eight at night when Eleanor got a knock on her door. It sounded timid and weak, and Eleanor barely heard it. Then another series of knows came and Eleanor put down the book of Carlos Williams Carlos poems she was reading. She got up and walked to the door. On either side of her front door are two tall and thin windows. She pulled back the curtain to one of them and—_

_No way, no fucking way._

_Eleanor gasped, felt her heart flying in her chest, and struggled to open the door quick enough with her shaky hand._

_There, in front of the setting summer sun, stood Louis._

_He looked completely different from the last time Eleanor saw him. Normally, Louis was always clean shaved but now, he had thick stubble on his cheeks and down his neck. His hair is longer too, his fringe flopping over his eyes and Eleanor could see the length of it coming to an end about half way down the back of his neck. She wanted to touch it so bad but couldn’t seem to move._

_The biggest change, was that Louis clearly bulked up since being away. His biceps were always toned, but they looked massive now. Eleanor tried not to stare but Louis was wearing a tank top because, of course he was, and his biceps were taunting her._

_“Louis,” Eleanor finally sighed. She hesitantly reached her arms out to him, “Oh my God, Lou.”_

_She hadn’t hugged him in months, and that was the first thing she did—pulled Louis into her arms with a fierce grip. Eleanor fought back tears because she couldn’t believe Louis was back. For months he just sent few texts here and there to tell her he was fine, but it was just not the same as having him in person. God, she missed his smell and how safe she felt in his arms._

_At first, Louis just stood there, and let Eleanor squeeze him like a teddy bear._

_But then._

_Then Louis spun Eleanor around, and pushed her lightly up against the door. He stared her down, his eyes darker then she had ever seen. Louis looked down at Eleanor’ lips, then back at her eyes and he seemed so conflicted. He wanted it, he wanted to kiss her, and Eleanor could just feel it in her racing heart. But Louis seemed reluctant to take that step over the line again, and maybe it’s because they both knew that they weren’t just gonna to stop at a kiss._

_So, Eleanor made the decision easy for Louis._

_She pulled his face in and kissed him with the force of everything the ever wanted to tell Louis for nearly two decades. Louis came alive from her lips, kissing her back with the same passion. His hands dragged over her torso. Without breaking the kiss, they worked together as Louis lifted her in his arms, and Eleanor wrapped her legs around his waist._

_Louis rolled his tongue against Eleanor and she whimpered weakly. He then pulled her off the wall and blindly moved through Eleanor’s house. He found her kitchen table somehow and set her down on it. Quickly he pulled back, eyes blown and lips slick and red, and his chest heaving. Eleanor imagined she looked the same as him, maybe even more wrecked then more._

_Still, none of that mattered, not as Louis stepped back and removed his loose tank top quickly. His torso was more defined than ever before. As he moved to undo his jeans, Eleanor began stripping her shirt off and tossing it to the ground. Louis groaned as he watched Eleanor take her bra off, leaving her bare from the waist up. It made her feel good, to get that reaction out of Louis. Eleanor reached for his hips and pulled him back to her by the band of his boxer briefs. She nibbled on Louis’ lip softly as she helped pull down the briefs._

_“Lou,” she sighed happily, gleefully as Louis kissed her neck. He gently laid her down flat on the table, and Eleanor was sure she had stars in her eyes as she looked up at him. Louis was just out of reach from where she was, and Eleanor ached to reach out and touch him, anyway._

_But Louis had other ideas._

_Eleanor let out a surprised gasp as she was roughly flipped over by Louis, her shin digging into the wood table. She felt completely bare as Louis pulled her shorts and panties in one go and—well, Eleanor never fantasied her first time with Louis to be like this._

_Louis pushed inside in one quick go, leaving Eleanor breathless and dizzy and completely full. It felt so good, incredibly good but it was all wrong too. She wanted this, wanted sex with Louis so bad for so long. But she also wanted to see him and to touch him. She felt caged in as Louis laid over her body and mouthed at the back of her shoulder as he pulled out and then slammed back into her quickly. She let out a high moan and Louis found a steady pace, fucking into her at a consistent, nearly rough pace. It was too good to think, too good to make either one of them worry about their relationship._

_It was silent mainly, except for breathy gasps from Eleanor and low grunts from Louis. Sweat slicked between their bodies, and Eleanor’s shoulder was scraped by his stubble and she loved it. She loved this so much, even if it was a little too rough or fast. Louis’ tightened his hold on Eleanor’s hips and picked up the pace, his thrusts angling at the perfect spot inside of her._

_All too soon, Eleanor felt her stomach coil in delight and her mind growing fuzzy as her orgasm began to build. She could feel Louis’ thrusts being more frantic and less consistent. Finally, finally—Louis reached one of his hands up to meet Eleanor’s, latching on from behind and curling his fingers down and over hers. Eleanor came as Louis kissed her neck, as he grunted her name softly as she tightened up around his dick. She felt limp, lifeless as Louis finished a moment or so afterwards. Louis breathed heavily into her ear, his hands were gentle on her lower back and he brushed Eleanor’s hair out of her face._

_Louis pulled out and stood up after those few blissful moments. Eleanor couldn’t move just yet, but apparently Louis could. Because after a few short minutes, Louis was gone._

_She stood up quickly, anxiously as she heard the front door closed. Eleanor looked for signs of Louis being there, but his clothes were gone. A car engine starting up brought Eleanor to her door. She watched as Louis’ car pulled out of her drive away at great speed._

_Louis didn’t, fuck he didn’t even said goodbye. He barely said hello to Eleanor when he came in after being gone for four months. He then fucked her and left right afterwards as if she were just a one night stand he picked up at a club. God, Eleanor’s high was gone along with Louis. Suddenly, she felt sick at being naked, at feeling his cum ooze out of her._

_Eleanor took a hot shower and cried until the water grew cold._

_Three days later, Louis called Eleanor up. He asked her to come back with him, to work on the ice again for one more chance at the Olympics. It hurt that he didn’t call to talk about what they had done. And maybe part of Eleanor hated Louis a little bit for not bringing it up. But still, Eleanor said yes to Louis, because she never could say no to him._

_Eleanor thought that maybe that would ruin her one day._

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Thirteen

                It all comes down to Days Thirteen and Fourteen.

For the past four days, Louis and Eleanor train nonstop on and off the ice. All seems salved over between them, and it’s like their relationship is better than ever before. They practice each move in their rooms together, mimicking their motions on the ice. They workout with Mike and Eleanor felt stronger than she did ten years ago. Their time on the ice felt flawless, and Harry was thrilled to see the quote ‘ice dancing dynamic duo,’ back in tip top shape.

They’re ready for the competition to begin.

Louis’ stretching out in the hall just minutes before they’re set to go on to perform their short dance. Eleanor just had finishing touches on hair and make up and sits down beside Louis. He’s stretching out his legs, squatting low with his left leg extended to the side. His ass looks picturesque, but Eleanor makes herself look away. As she ties the laces on her skates, Louis lets out a scoff.

“Wearing those fake lashes again, I see,” he comments playfully.

Eleanor groans, “God, I hate them. I can barely blink with them on.”

“You nervous?” Louis asks.

Eleanor looks up at him. She smiles a little at his outfit. They’re both wearing cobalt blue, with Louis’ shirt being that color and his slacks in black. There’s mesh cut outs on his sides and sequence line the side of his pants and down the tops of his arms. Eleanor’s dress has no sleeves, but the straps were all silver sequence, as some ware also scattered on the top half of her dress. The skirt is airy and flowy and perfect for skating in. Her hair’s in a high ponytail and her makeup is on the natural side.

Eleanor finishes tying her laces as she answers, “A little bit.”

Louis finishes his stretch and comes up to her, “Don’t think of anything else. It’s just us out there, yeah? We’re just doing this for us.”

“Yeah,” Eleanor agrees, taking in a large breath. She takes hold of Louis’ hand, savors the sturdy feeling of his hand in hers, “Together?”

Louis beams as he responds, “Together.”

They walk out into the arena, and wave at some adoring fans that cheer for them. As the wait in on the side until they’re signaled to go out, Nadine and Harry give them final pointers and tips. They take in the information and nod. Louis shakes his limps out and loosens up a bit. Eleanor jumps up and down in her skates to get her blood flowing and expel any final nerves.

And then, it’s show time.

“Skating for the United States, Eleanor Calder and Louis Tomlinson,” the speakers echo off the walls and the room explodes into loud cheers.

An aid pulls open the gate to the ice. Louis lets Eleanor on the ice before him and they skate to the center of the ice. They hold hands in between them, and extend their outer arms up to the ceiling, keeping their chins up and heads balanced as they acknowledge the crowd. Eleanor nervously glances over to the judges, but Louis gets her attention by squeezing her hand harder.

They get in position for the short dance program and wait for the Latin jazz music to begin.

“Together,” Louis mouths to Eleanor and she nods, forcing the anxiety away. She’s ready, she knows they’re ready. They earned gold at the US Nationals and the Grand Prix competitions as well with their programs. They’ve done their short program hundreds of times, and they got this.

Ten minutes later though, it’s a completely new tone.

                “Fuck!” Eleanor yells once their team is alone in their room. She throws her water bottle at the wall, and paces with her hands on her hips about the room. She’s pissed off, so fucking furious at herself. She’s a better skater then what she put out there on the ice.

                Nadine speaks to her from a distance, “Eleanor, dear, it’s alright-”

                “No, it’s not!” Eleanor shouts back, her hand pinching her sweaty brow. She’s still shocked, still stunned, “My feet wobbled—my fucking ankles gave out!”

                “Only for a split second, El,” Harry reminds her softly, “And you guys didn’t get any deductions from it.”

                “But our score still suffered!” Eleanor yells, heaving a little. Her chest tightens up harshly and she backs up against the wall, gasping for breath. Her vision is cloudy, and the room feels like a carnival ride, spinning rapidly all around her.

                She fucked this up.

                She fucked up on the world’s largest stage.

She’s the reason Louis and her won’t win gold again.

Fuck, she failed Louis. He must be so disappointed in her and Eleanor can’t stand the idea of that.

“Els,” Louis’ there suddenly, holding her face in his hands. Eleanor’s still struggling to breath, but Louis’ quiet ‘shhs’ and her face captured by his hands eases her ever so slightly, “C’mon El, breathe. Nice deep breathes—in and out. Do that with me, love. Breathe for me and everything will be fine.”

Together they breathe, long inhales with short pauses before longer exhales. Louis stays like this the whole time, watching her closely as Eleanor relaxes more so. She feels the tension become less daunting, her chest loosens up with each breath and her mind begins to become more focused. Finally, Eleanor’s able to look up at her partner with clear eyes. Louis’ smiling at her and stroking her cheek and Eleanor can’t stop her lip from shaking.

“I-I’m sorry,” she sobs.

Louis won’t except it, “Eleanor you did nothing wrong.”

But Eleanor still can’t believe him, and she shakes her head in mute protest.

“Stop that,” Louis scolds her softly. He pulls her hands up to his lips and kisses her knuckles, “It happens Eleanor. It wasn’t that noticeable, and we didn’t get any deductions from it. We’re only a point and a half from first place El.”

“Yeah but,” Eleanor sighs, “France’s freestyle is fucking amazing.”

“But ours is better,” Louis assures her with a smile, “C’mon, you need water and something to eat.”

“Can we practice our freestyle in here for a bit?” Eleanor asks, her mind still on tomorrow’s skate. They can’t mess anything up, they have to be flawless.

“We’ll practice later,” Louis tells her, “But not too much, Els. We have our routine down perfect. Now, we just need to give our bodies some rest, have Martin stretch our limbs out.”

Eleanor sighs, “We need to train, Lou.”

“I won’t let either of us overwork ourselves, El,” Louis tells her.

“I’m captain of this team too, Lou,” Eleanor retorts firmly.

Louis stares at her before saying, “I know that El—we’re in this together, always have been. But right now, you don’t need practice. You need to take a breather for a little while. You got too caught up in your head out there, El. We know our program by heart Els, and we practiced it several times yesterday with no mistakes because we knew each step, and we could feel it. Right now, we just need to get in a good headspace. Training’s not going to do that but resting up and destressing will.”

He’s right, Eleanor knows he is. That little miffed part of Eleanor still wants to fight him, because her mistake on the short dance is still so fresh. But Louis’ right.

“Okay,” Eleanor agrees. It’s worth it just to see Louis smile.

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Fourteen

Pyeongchang is gorgeous at night.

                The moon is full and high above the snow-covered mountains. The winds are still pretty high, and Eleanor can hear them shake her window in her dorm.

                She can’t sleep. Her limbs are heavy and sunk like an anchor when she got into bed a couple hours ago. But Eleanor just can’t stop thinking.

                Her phone rings at 12:34 am. She answers it after the first ring.

                “You couldn’t sleep either?” Louis greets her.

                Eleanor curls her lips up, “Yeah, just thinking a lot.”

                “About today still?” he asks, and Eleanor can basically hear his frown over the phone.

                She shakes her head, “Tomorrow.”

                “Me too,” Louis confesses, “What about tomorrow?”

                “We have to get that sit-spin towards the end right,” Eleanor says, and Louis scoffs.

                “El, we’ve been doing them perfectly for months now.”

                Eleanor sighs, “What if we do them wrong tomorrow, Lou? It’s right at the end of the song, right at the climax. We have to nail it.”

                “We will,” Louis assures her. Eleanor hates how confident Louis sounds; how so optimistic he can be about everything. She’s always admired that about Louis, and has always wished to be more like that, even if it does annoy her from time to time.

                “What are you thinking about?” Eleanor presses him.

                Louis’ quiet before saying, “Tomorrow’s our last skate.”

                Eleanor sits up because—holy shit he’s right. For twenty years, they were always on the go, constantly focusing on the next competition. There was never an end in sight, at least not a calculated one like this before. Neither one of them ever saw an end in their career before now, and Louis’ right and Eleanor hates that this hasn’t dawned on her earlier. And now, all that has brought them here to their third Olympics, and to their last program ever.

                “Twenty years, Els,” Louis breathes out.

                Eleanor nods, “I know.”

                “I wanna win, Els,” Louis admits fiercely, taking Eleanor by surprise, “I want to win so fucking bad. I want that gold medal for us, for our careers, for my country, for my family and for my mom.”

                “Lou,” Eleanor exhales the breath she was holding in.

                Louis goes on, “I want that win for you, Els. You’ve worked so hard for it, and I wanna see you up on that podium tomorrow more then I want to be up there. What a way to top off our career with another gold, Els. I just—I want it so bad my bones ache for it.”

                “I do too,” Eleanor says, and then adds, “But shit Lou—we’ve had such an incredible ride. I’m so fucking proud of everything we’ve done Louis. Not winning gold won’t take that away all we’ve accomplished.”

                “I know,” Louis says, “But Jesus El, I just want that gold because it’ll be a great fucking cap off to our career.”

                Eleanor giggles, “Yeah, it would be.”

                They’re silent for a moment, and Eleanor feels so tired suddenly.

                Then.

                “Thank you,” Louis says, taking Eleanor aback.

                “For what?”

                Louis explains, “For agreeing to be my partner twenty years ago. For always pushing me to be better. For becoming the best skater I’ve ever seen. For putting up with all my shit over the years. For being my best friend and partner.”

                “Lou,” Eleanor says fondly. Louis rarely gets so sappy and sentimental.

                “If I hear any crying out of you, I’ll act like this conversation never happened,” Louis tells her with a scoff, and then adds more seriously, “I love you, Els. Thank you for everything.”

                Eleanor’s chest swells, “You know, you weren’t the worst partner ever Louis.”

                “I was sometimes.”

                “And occasionally, I was a pain in the ass too,” Eleanor says admittedly, “But I can’t imagine doing any of this without you Louis. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

                Louis stays silent for a little while, and then he says, “Neither can I, Els. I think you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

                Eleanor blinks, stunned by Louis’ kind and sentimental words tonight. God, she wants the win for Louis more then anything.

                “Me too,” Eleanor says, and then explains, “Like, I have no clue what I would be do right now if we had never met. You…literally changed my life, Lou.”

                “For better or worse?” Louis asks, almost daring her.

                Eleanor replies immediately, “For better, always for the best.”

                They say goodnight to each other, and Eleanor falls asleep with a warm, gooey feeling spreading over her body.

~~~ 

                They’re perfect.

                Absolutely perfect.

                Fuck whatever the judges say or where the end up in the ranks.

                Their last skate feels perfect.

                Louis holds Eleanor’s hands as the round the far-left end of the rink for the final time. They just finished their rotating lift and move into their last set of twizzles. They’re perfectly in tune, and Eleanor feels the love billowing up and through her body. Louis looks adorningly at her as they come together for their sit-spin when the final ‘Oos’ of the song plays. Eleanor extends her arm up to the sky while they spin, and positions their heads close, so close that they look like they’re kissing. The maneuver is perfect, just perfect and Eleanor breathes a sigh of relief.

                They finish out their program strong, with hearts racing and pride filling their chests. The room cheers happily for them and they wait a beat or so before breaking their final poses. Louis picks Eleanor’s head up from his shoulder and the two embraces.

                “We did it,” Louis tells Eleanor, “We fucking did it.”

                Eleanor nods, tears welling up. Louis turns and kisses her cheek sweetly before they separate. They acknowledge the crowd, extending their arms and waving, beaming at what they’ve done. Eleanor feels content finally. For the first time in her career, Eleanor doesn’t feel the need to be first. She knows her and Louis did their best today, and left their heart on the Gangneung Ice Arena.

                They skate off the ice a moment later, after Louis leaps onto the foam wall around the rink, and gladly take the water Nadine hands them. Louis looks as shocked and elated as Eleanor feels. Eleanor never felt this good after performing their freestyle all season. She’s so happy that she feels this way now, for the Olympics with Louis by her side.

               

 

“You look pretty,” Louis tells her again like he did before their skate. Before the program, Eleanor agreed with him, as their designer made a lovely long sleeve and backless flowy pink dress. She also loved Louis’ outfit, which was a simple long sleeve white shirt with billowy sleeves that are cuffed at the end and black slacks. There’s not a speck of sequence on their outfits, but the simplicity is truly what makes them shine.

Eleanor can’t think he’s serious, since they’re both panty and sweaty and gross. But she knows Louis is being completely honest.

Eleanor can’t help herself and pulls Louis in for another hug, not cringing at all at his sweaty stench (she’s way used to it, even kinda likes it), before they’re summoned to sit and wait for their scores. The look up at the boards above them in the arena, the whole place is nervously silent, but Eleanor doesn’t care what the numbers are.

                They were perfect, no matter what anyone else thinks.

                But thankfully, the judges seem the feel the same way.

                122.40 for the freestyle. That combined with their 81.96 score on their short dance comes to a total of 204.36.

                That’s an Olympic record and puts them in first place for now.

Holy shit.

                Louis nods, beams at Eleanor before hugging her.

                “We did it,” Eleanor tells him. Louis nods but covers his hand as he whispers in her ear.

                “The French still need to perform,” he reminds her. She doesn’t say anything, but she knows.

                Eleanor just knows.

~~~

                They’re decked out in puffy Team USA jackets and matching knit beanies. They haven’t stopped smiling for an hour or so.

                _“Ladies and gentlemen, the gold medalists for Ice Dancing in the 2018 Winter Olympics, representing the United States of America, Eleanor Calder and Louis Tomlinson.”_

                As this was announced, the ceremony room cheers and the camera flashes. Louis and Eleanor wave at the crowd before turning to each other. Louis takes her hand and gives her a look and she goes with Louis, jumping up with him onto the highest part of the platform, smack dab in the middle. They link up, one-handedly holding on to each other’s backs and continue to wave at the crowd with their outer hands.

                Presenters come before them, one holding a tray with cute plush tigers as a gift, and the other holding a tray with two shiny gold medals.

                They really did it. These past two years, all the ups and downs and the countless hours of training and skating, they really fucking did it.

                The head of the Ice Skating Union is the one that places the gold medals over their heads, congratulating them and give each a big hug. They stand up straight again and Louis leans in to give Eleanor a quick kiss on the side of her neck as they hug once more. The crowd seems to love that and Eleanor’s sure it’s just the hot stage lights causing her to feel hot.

                Watching America’s flag rise in the auditorium with their national anthem playing is truly breath taking. Louis and Eleanor hold their hands between them as their cover their hearts with their right hand. The quietly sing along with the orchestra playing the ‘Star Spangled Banner,’ and Eleanor feels immensely proud to be an American in this moment, that she was able to represent her country and to win for her country.

                Most of all, Eleanor’s proud she was able to do all this with Louis.

                “Told ya we look good in gold,” Eleanor whispers to Louis up on that podium. So knows it’s the last time she’ll ever say it to him this way, and that makes tears well up in her eyes.

                Louis flashes a dazzling smile at her, and pulls her in to kiss her cheek, “We always do, Els.”

~~~

                Eleanor almost feels sick when there’s the knock on her dorm door she’s been waiting for.

                She breathes and tell herself to do, just finally do it.

                Louis’ smiling curiously at her when she opens the door. He’s in jeans and yet another Team USA sweatshirt, this one being grey with the letters being in red, white and blue. He still has the gold medal around his neck.

God, Eleanor loves him.

                “You alright?” he asks as he steps in.

                “Of course,” Eleanor nods weakly as she closes the door.

                Louis doesn’t believe her, but doesn’t push it either, “Okay…” He moves farther in the room, and sits down on her twin sized bed, his feet dangling over the side.

                God, Eleanor fucking loves him so much.

                “What did you want to talk about?” Louis asks, inquiring about the text Eleanor sent him about a half hour before.

                Eleanor sighs, and her fingers dig into her palms. _Just go for it_! she yells inwardly at herself.

                “I love you,” she says, feeling so relieved for a hot second, and then anxiety sweeps back in.

                Eleanor makes herself look at Louis. He does a small shrug in response, “And I love you too, Els.”

                Okay then. He’s clearly not getting it.

                “No Lou, I—” Eleanor takes another deep breath, and looks at him directly and stresses, “I _love_ you Louis, like ‘I wanna kiss your stupidly gorgeous face all the time,’ love you.”

                Louis’ eyes widen, “W-What?”

                “You can’t be that surprised,” Eleanor says surely, and chuckles a little, “I felt like I was drooling over you all the time we were together.”

                Louis doesn’t say anything, just stares dumbfounded at her.

                Eleanor feels anxious and wants nothing more then then retract what she said. But she can’t now, she’s gone too far.

                She sighs, “Look Lou, I’m sorry if this changes things between us. I—I never said anything before because I didn’t want to lose our friendship, our partnership. But fuck Lou, I’ve loved you for nearly twenty years and I can’t keep torturing myself like this. If…if you don’t want me that same way, it’s fine.

“But you deserve the truth, and truth is I want more Louis. I can’t take these tiny little moments of words and touches and little kisses here and there. I want them all the time, every day. I always knew that one day, skating wasn’t going to be a part of my life anymore. And I’ve grown okay with that these last few years. But I’ve always known that when I thought about my future, you’d be there Lou. And I want that Lou, and I want you and me, not just in the rink but especially off the ice. I want a lifetime of you and me, always together, because I think we’re fucking fantastic together. I always wanted you Lou, only you for twenty years.”

“El—” Louis finally breathes out, but Eleanor needs to finish this.

“I love you Louis, so fucking much,” she whispers, her voice cracking slightly, “But above all else, I respect you. And like I said, if you don’t feel the same way then we don’t do this, and I’ll find a way to let those feelings go. But Lou—if there’s a small part of you the likes me more then just as partners, or if you feel nothing at all for me, then give us a try. Because I think we’ll be great together, I really do.”

Eleanor licks her lip nervous and looks down at her feet. She hugs herself, feeling the cold sting of rejection coming on. She’s tried her best to prepare herself for this moment for two decades, but she still doesn’t think she can take it. It’s gonna hurt like Hell when Louis denies her.

And then.

“I—I never knew you felt the same way.”

And, what wait? It takes Eleanor a few seconds for her brain to evaluate the words over again. Did he? No, that’s not possible. But then she realizes, once she looks up at Louis and sees his stoic face that he’s serious. That Louis loves her back.

Holy shit, Louis loves her.

Suddenly, it’s like Eleanor’s five again and she’s stepping out on the ice for the time.

That moment, the moment she met Louis, and this moment are the best moments Eleanor ever had.

“Wait—what,” Eleanor smiles feebly, almost feeling dizzy with relief, “Really?”

“El,” Louis sighs, “How could I not? You’re fucking amazing, and like really beautiful, just so you know.”

Eleanor grins foolishly at this.

Fuck, Louis’ _loves_ her.

“Since when?” she asks, curious.

Louis rolls his eyes fondly, “The whole damn time.”

“God,” Eleanor rubs her forehead. Everything within her is screaming to go and kiss the life out of Louis and herself, she’s still unsure. So she stays her distance, for now. They have twenty years’ worth of shit to talk about, and she knows they won’t get through all of it tonight. But they still have plenty of time too.

“Why didn’t you-” Eleanor begins, but of course Louis knows what she was going to say.

“Because you’re intimating!” Louis blurts out. Eleanor frowns and Louis goes on, “Fuck, you’re perfect El. Every little thing about you is flawless, and I’m just me. I’m moody, and childish and an ass at times--”

“Lou,” Eleanor reprimands.

Louis shakes his head, “Like, I had a lot of growing up to do, Els. I knew you needed a man, someone to take care of you and love you the way deserve, but I wasn’t ready for that. So I wanted to wait until I was the man that would be worthy of you.”

“Louis William Tomlinson,” Eleanor sighs, fondly, “You sap.”

Louis rolls his eyes but laughs along with Eleanor. He stops eventually, but his smile widens, “I mean it though. I needed to work on myself, grow into the man I am now and then I was going to tell you, I swear I was. God, I wanted you so bad for so long Els.

“But then—mom got sick and I needed to work on myself even more so. I was in such a bad place, Els, and I didn’t want you to see me like that anymore. I thought, the longer I stayed with my family and with you while I was like that, the more likely I was going to drag you all down too.”

“Louis,” Eleanor exhales.

He shrugs, “It was stupid for me to think that, but I was able to leave and go to a treatment center in LA. You know all this already, but they helped me so much. They worked on getting me back to my best mental and physical shape. They even convinced me to go back home and be with you and my family again. They also told me that after a little while longer in therapy, I should try to give things a go with you, Els, and be honest with how I felt and take that leap.

“But then, when I got back—fuck Els. I saw you and I realized how much I missed you. I couldn’t control myself, I just went with the feeling and I’m so sorry for how things happen. That’s not—I didn’t want our first time to be like that. And after it was done, I saw there were bruises on your hips and I felt physically sick at the thought that I hurt you.”

                “God, Lou,” Eleanor wants nothing more then to reach out and hold, to tell that yeah that fucking hurt but she’s okay now. But she remains still.

                Louis looks down, “I figured I ruined any chance of being with you, so I never brought that night up again. I didn’t want to rub salt in our wounds. But I was dying to get back on the ice Els. It—the idea of stopping back then didn’t sit right with me. I knew we had more left in us, and I’m so grateful you agreed to come back. But this whole year made me just realize how much I selfishly wanted you, Els. It was so hard during out sit-spins in ‘With or Without You,’ to not kiss you. I wanted to do it all the time.”

                “Me too,” Eleanor admits breathlessly, “Fuck, Lou I wanna kiss you now.”

                “Yeah?” Louis asks, almost bashfully. He bites his lower lip as he smiles and God, Eleanor loves him, and he knows it and he wants her in return.

                Eleanor suddenly can’t speak. She nods quickly, maybe too eagerly. But then Louis is practically tripping over his Vans to stand up from the bed. He pauses, before walking the five steps between them. Eleanor smiles once he’s in her space, close enough for her to smell the evergreen mint body soap Louis uses. He’s shy as he traces her cheek with his fingers lightly, making Eleanor go breathless once again.

                “Can I kiss you, Els?” Louis asks for some reasons, despite knowing the answer.

                Eleanor nods quickly, her eyes locked on Louis, “Please.”

                And that’s all he needs. Louis swoops in, cupping her face in his palm and kissing her slow and deep. Eleanor feels like she’s spinning on the ice—it feels like home. She reached up and hold Louis’ face in her hands because she won’t-can’t let him stop kissing her. His hands take soft hold of her hips and pulls Eleanor closer to him, chest to chest. When they’re forced to breathe and stop, Eleanor wraps her arms around Louis’ neck and they huge for a long time.

                “Want you,” Eleanor breathes in his ear, “Please.”

                Louis grips her hips, “Els—” he lets out a low moan as Eleanor nibbles on his jawline, “Fuck—are you sure? Shouldn’t we take this slow?”

                “Why?” Eleanor says, letting her hands fall to his hips. She looks up sweetly at him, and gives him a give peck, “We’ve waited so long, Lou. I know I want you, want this so bad. Don’t you?”

                Louis nods quickly, “I do—fuck, of course I do.”

                Eleanor grins as her hand moves to the front of Louis’ jeans. He’s slightly hard, maybe jitters still getting the best of him for now. But as Eleanor rubs her palm into his crotch, and she smirks victorious as Louis gasps sudden and short.

                “Fuck,” he hisses, moving his hips into her palm slowly. Eleanor squeezes him through his jeans and Louis cries, “I can’t—El, you’re killing me.”

                Eleanor giggles, but decides to take pity on Louis. There’s plenty of time for teasing later. Now though, for now Eleanor starts with taking hold of Louis’ hand. She leads him to her bed and pulls Louis’ down on top of it. He lays back, propping himself up on his elbows and waiting for Eleanor to do something, anything. She pulls her shirt off her and tosses it aside. When her hair is out of her eyes, she notices Louis openly eyeing her body, mainly at her black lacey bra.

                Feeling brave and confident and stupidly happy, Eleanor kneels on the mattress and settles herself over Louis’ hips. They make out for what feels like forever, their long-awaited hands finally touching their bodies freely. Eleanor unbuttons Louis’ jeans with eager hands and unzips them. He breathes a sigh of relief into Eleanor’s mouth, and she rubs him off again, slow and rough.

                Louis breaks the kiss just to moan, “El, oh shit babe. Yeah, just like that.”

                “I want you like this, Lou,” Eleanor tells him flatly as her hand keeps rubbing him off, “I want you on your back and me on top. I wanna feel your hands all over me as I ride you hard.”

                “Jesus,” Louis heaves, his hips bucking up into her palm.

                Eleanor smirks, and moves back so Louis can pull his shirt and medal off in one go. Did he really just throw his Olympic gold medal aside as if it were a shirt? Yes, yes he did. God, Eleanor loves this man to pieces. She kisses Louis’ chest as he unhooks her bra and pushes the straps off her shoulders. Eleanor sits up and tosses the braw away while Louis’ quick to unbutton and unzip her jeans. Louis looks up then and gawks at her breasts.

                “Touch me, Lou,” Eleanor whispers hotly. She takes his hand and brings it up to her chest. He’s in awe as he gropes her, curling his fingers around the rounded flesh. He grabs her nipple and tugs on it and Eleanor throws her head back and moans, “Fuck Lou.”

                Louis says softly, “You’re so beautiful Els. God, so fucking pretty.”

                Eleanor tells him to finish undressing and to sit up at the head of the bed. She gets off of him, much to Louis’ chagrin, and goes to the drawer where all the official Olympic condoms are in her dorm. She’s smirking at the dresser while she hears manic ruffling of clothes going on behind her. She takes out a condom and—and Louis’ stark naked on her bed when she turns back around. He catches her gaze, grinning as he pumps his thick cock with a loose fist.

Jesus. Eleanor clinches her legs and grunts at the sight.

Two can play at this game.

In one go, Eleanor tugs her jeans and thong down. It takes a few second of shimmying before she steps out of them and stands back up straight. She basks in her nudeness, basks in the way Louis breathes out her name and swears as his hand picks up the pace on himself. She walks confidently back to the bed, standing beside it so her crotch was just in front of Louis’ face.

“Fuck,” he sighs, his hand holding her hip. He looks up from her sex with eyes darkened to a level Eleanor’s never seen before, “I can smell how turned on you are, uh? Bet you can’t wait.”

“Can’t,” Eleanor moans as Louis slips a single finger inside her. It’s just once finger but her knees are shaking as Louis moves it around inside her. He happens to find her spot on a whim and swipes his finger over it swiftly. It makes Eleanor fall forward slightly and gasp hard, “L-Lou, please.”

Louis nods and takes the condom from her hand. Eleanor watches with lidded eyes as Louis rips open the package. He rolls it over his own cock, hissing a little at the friction, and Eleanor admires how large he is. She bites her lip just thinking about how good his dick will feel inside her. Louis lays back a little, still slightly propped up by the pillows on the bed. He looks at Eleanor with a challenging face.

“I’m ready for ya,” he says and Eleanor’s not sure she’s ready for him.

Actually, scratch that. Eleanor’s been ready for this every since she knew what sex was.

Eleanor’s thankful as Louis holds her hands when she sits down on his dick. She goes slowly, because fullness is almost too much at first. But Louis is patient and gentle, praising her sweetly and grips onto her hands hard as she moves down each inch. When she finally settles, both are somehow panting heavily. They haven’t even properly started yet and yet they both have blown pupils and are stunned breathless. Louis’ hands find Eleanor’s hips and he just holds her there, waits for her to become ready to move.

“I love ya,” Louis tells her breathlessly.

Eleanor moves her hips then, and it’s just beautiful to watch Louis’ eyes flutter close and head his breathing become chocked off. She stays like this for a few moments, hovering high above him and her hips only rotating in small circles. Eventually, she falls forward, her hands bracing on the mattress above Louis’ head. It’s weird like this, because somehow they’re not aligned perfectly. Louis’ under her body, with his head right under her dangling breasts. But the angle feels amazing inside her, and Eleanor groans as she pushes back on Louis’ cock.

“Yes,” she groans when Louis’ hands take hold of her ass, one secured on the thickest part of each cheek. As she rides him, his hands stay there, mixing up between messaging softly the flesh and roughly digging his nails into her.

Louis lets out a throaty moan, “Yeah, Els. F-Fuck, you feel good.”

Eleanor picks up the pace, fucking herself down on Louis with quicker juts of her hips. She gets a good rhythm going, so focused on chasing her own high that she doesn’t say a thing to Louis. He seems entranced too, because he’s quiet as well, except his panted breathes and occasional deep moans.

Suddenly, Louis’ mouth is on her right breast, his tongue lapping up around the nub.

“Fuck,” Eleanor exhales, making her hips stop for a moment, “Oh God, yes Lou.” Her hand finds the back of Louis’ head and she puts it there to keep him doing that. Eleanor picks up again, her hips growing more tired and frantic as she rides him. It’s too much really, Louis’ tongue flicking her nipple, his greedy hands clinching her ass with such vice, and his perfect dick striking her spot each time she moves down on him.

God her knees are aching and shaking, but she’s close, so fucking close. Eleanor gasps as she somehow is able to rub her clit against Louis’ skin each time she goes down and bottoms out. It aids her orgasm, her stomach coils impossibly tight. Jolts of pleasure increase, her breathing grows mantic and her stomach twists in delight.

“L-Lou,” Eleanor heaves as a warning, just as the light behind her eyes becomes white, “I’m gonna—so fucking close. I—”

The sound of Louis’ hand roughly spanking her ass cheek silences her. Jesus. That little extra sting on her side pushes her over the edge. Louis holds her hips and continues to kiss her breasts as she come, riding quickly and moaning his name over and over again under her breath. She can’t hold herself up anymore, dropping down and holding onto Louis as her high goes on. Louis curses, moving his arms up to curl around the back of her shoulders. Eleanor whimpers as Louis pulls out, and moves her down into his chest. She holds onto him, panting heavily and exhausted but so blissed out of her mind.

And then, she feels it—feels him.

Louis’ still hard.

“You didn’t come?” Eleanor asks, trying hard not to be hurt.

Louis smiles softly and kisses her forehead. He whispers into her skin, “Think you could get off twice tonight babe? Consider it my way of saying I’m sorry being a selfish ass the first time around.”

Jesus. Twice in one night.

“If,” Eleanor breathes out, “If I come like I just did again, I dunno if I will ever move again, fuck.”

Louis chuckles, his fingers tracing up her back, “Is that a yes?” he taunts.

“Gimme a minute,” she mutters, “Do whatever you want this time. We’re partners, yeah?”

“Always,” Louis agrees.

After ten minutes of just lazy kisses, Eleanor thinks she can go again. When she tells Louis this, she’s surprised to see the man move up from the bed. Looking over her shoulder, Eleanor gets a great view of Louis’ ass as he walks to the end of the bed. He turns to face her, his dick still hard and bobbing slightly with each step. She bites her lip as she stares at it, but then suddenly, Louis’ pulling on her calf. She gasps as she moves to the end of the twin bed, he feet dangling over the end on either side of Louis’ legs.

Louis grins mischievous as he grabs her right leg, his hand under her knee, and pushes it back towards her. Eleanor sighs at the stretch, as Louis bends her leg back where her knee cap is almost at her head and spreading her out wide. He positions himself at her entrance, his fringe flipped over his eyes as he watches himself sink back in. She’s too sensitive, the feeling of Louis filling her back up again being just on the edge of too much to bare post orgasm. But it feels too good to stop him, as the new angle exposes her perfectly and her stimulated spot inside her feels the drag of Louis’ dick once again.

“Lou?” Eleanor speaks up once he’s bottomed out. He stops and flicks his hair out of his eyes. His hand comes up to stroke her cheek.

“Yeah, babe?” he asks, “You good?” Eleanor smirks.

“I love you,” she tells him earnestly.

Louis puffs out a hot breath as he looms up over her. He kisses her swiftly as he pulls out and slams back in quickly. Out of reflex, Eleanor wraps her arms around Louis as he fucks into her again and again, her other leg wrapping around his him to encourage him. She grunts with each thrust of his hips, holds on to him for dear life as he picks up the pace. Fuck, her whole body is on fire—everywhere from her aching leg propped high up on Louis’ shoulder down to the tips of her fingers.

Her mind grows fuzzy as another orgasm builds up. Louis’ hips snaps forward again and again with such precision, and thank the gods for his great stamina. The sweat from their bodies mingle with each other, and their hot, desperate breathes and loud groans become the only things echoing off the walls. Eleanor’s close again, already and she prays she can hold on for Louis.

Louis’ thrusts grow more ridged and sloppy after a few moments. He fucks into her more frantically, and grips onto Eleanor’s hips hard as he moves her up and down on him over and over again. Eleanor’s eyes roll into the back of her head as she comes again and this time, her mind grows completely blank as the insane pleasure pulses through her brain. Louis curses at the tightness around him and comes with his head against Eleanor’s chest and his body heavy on top of hers. A few quick, shallow thrusts later and Louis’ stilled completely.

Kisses on her chest and going up Eleanor’s neck slowly brings her out of her fuzzy state. She smiles euphorically as Louis looks up at her. They share a grin, a small laugh and Eleanor pulls him in for another deep kiss. Louis pulls out then, and only leaves Eleanor’s side to tie off the condom and throw it in the trash can. He doesn’t leave her side for the rest of the night, and the two cuddle up on the squished twin bed.

What a day, Eleanor thinks with a sleepy grin on her lips. She drifts off to sleep with Louis’ arms wrapped around her from behind, and this is all she ever wanted.

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Fifteen

                “Good day, sir,” Louis greets the poor delivery man at the door to Eleanor’s dorm. Behind him on the floor, Eleanor’s failing to hold back her laugh from the poor man’s stunned reaction. She’ll have to scold Louis later for being so naughty.

                “Um,” the man breathes out, confused. He looks down at Louis’ bare chest (sans the gold medal around his neck) briefly       and doesn’t dare look at his boxers.

                Louis takes the box of Domino’s pizza from the guy’s hand and hands him more then enough South Korean won and grins wickedly, “Keep the change man! Have a good day.”

                Once the door is closed, Eleanor keels over with laughter. Louis seems so shameless about the whole ordeal.

                “What?” he asks as he settle back down on the ground with Eleanor. He opens the box and Eleanor just glares at him from the ground.

                “That poor man was just doing his job,” Eleanor tells him, “And you had to go and dramatize him!”

                Louis shrugs, as he takes a slice of extra cheesy pizza, “That guy has probably delivered to worse scenarios, babe. Plus he got to see two Olympic gold medals in person,” he reasons, pointing to Eleanor’s medal around her neck.  

                “You were shirtless and in your boxers with a fucking gold medal on!” Eleanor points out, dumbfounded. But then she smells the cheesy, greasy hot pizza and she just can’t resist. She sits up and quickly grabs a slice. As she takes a bite from it (her first bit of pizza in a month and it’s heavenly), Louis’ giving her a knowing look as he chews.

                (Breaking out the gold medals to wear while eating a crap-ton of junk food was Louis’ idea. But Eleanor thought it was brilliant, because of course she did.)

“Babes, _you’re_ wearing my shirt,” he points out. And—oh yeah, he’s right. She loves how Louis’ tank top just drapes over her frame and she feels like she’s swimming in it.

                Eleanor smirks around her pizza.

                It had been a long day of interviews. Everyone wanted to talk to “America’s Sweethearts,” apparently. Louis doesn’t like the nickname, doesn’t think it will last that long. But it was hard being so close together all day and having to act like they’re not an item. Currently, no one else in the world knows for sure that they’re dating. They decided to go back home after the Olympics and tell their families in person.

                It’s the right decision, but it’s just so hard not to kiss Louis all the time.

                She never wants to leave his side, ever. But then it dawns on her.

                “Come to Amsterdam with me,” Eleanor says.

                Louis takes a sip of his soda and ask afterwards, “What?”

                “You’ll love it, Lou,” Eleanor tries to convince him, her hand slightly stroking his bicep, “It has a lot of culture and a great night life. We can go for long walks around the city and take boat rides in the canals and go one long boke rides in the country.”

                “You want me to go?” Louis asks, somehow unsurely.

                Eleanor rolls her eyes, her fingers grazing over the patch of hair on his chest.

                “Of course, I do,” she tells him, looking into his, “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere without, Lou.”

                Louis grins sheepishly but plays coy to taunt her.

                “Hmmm, I dunno babe,” the bastard ponders. He looks over daringly at her, his eyes bright and playful and gorgeous, “I think I’ll need some more convincing.”

                “Oh?” Eleanor says, trying not to give into Louis right away, but she’s already putting down her half-eaten slice.

                Louis shrugs, and smirks cockily as he nods.

                An hour later, the two are naked under Eleanor’s duvets eating cold pizza with their legs tangled together and Eleanor has a confirmed travel buddy for Amsterdam.

~~~

Winter Olympics 2018-Pyeongchang, South Korea

Day Sixteen

It’s the question they’re all waiting for, the one they always seem to get in interviews.

                “So what’s the deal with you two?” some ass-twat journalist from the UK brazenly asks. Louis and Eleanor frown at the rude introduction to the question, “Are you together or not?”

                They share a look, one that Eleanor hopes doesn’t come across on camera as heart eyes.

                Louis squints at her and hums suspiciously. Eleanor glares at him playfully, “Do I know you?” he asks. Thankfully, it breaks the tension and everyone in the press conference laughs. Eleanor finishes her laugh and goes on.

                “Everyone wants to know that, it seems,” she begins, and just loves keeping this secret from the world, “But really, our relationship can’t be stifled with a label on it.”

                Louis nods and agrees, “It’s just something you all have to experience for yourself. The relationship I have with Eleanor is literally indescribable. I respect her, and value her more so then I do myself. It’s so hard to put a word on our relationship and partnership but all I know is, I want it to stay like this for as long as possible. We work so well together—I would do anything for El and she would do anything for me.”

                “Everyone deserves to have a relationship like that in their lives,” Eleanor tells the press, “Regardless if they’re related to you or not, or if you’re friends with them or lovers. With Louis and I, all the world needs to know is we have a great relationship together, and we’re happy with the current state of our relationship.”

                Somehow, magically, they don’t fondly look at each other at while they answer the question. Technically, it’s nothing that they’ve never said before in interviews about their relationship, but it’s just slightly altered that maybe some smart fans out their will notice.

                Because truth be told, Louis has his hand on Eleanor’s thigh this whole time under the table before the cameras where no one can see. No one else in the room has any idea that this is happening right before them and they’ll never get the picture of this.

                And truth be told, they purchased two tickets for Amsterdam in the upcoming month, just as spring will be blooming all over the city.

                And truth be told, Eleanor thinks that her and Louis are so done with winter. They’re ready for spring to come.

                And truth be told, neither one of them can wait for it.

~*~*~*~*~*~ THE END ~*~*~*~*~*~

 

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS! :D I appreciate it so much! 
> 
> *Please leave lovely comments and kudos for me! I REALLY appreciate those!*
> 
> My tumblr: TeaTimeTommo 
> 
> Take care loves :)


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